When We Went Rogue
by Lukyirish12
Summary: Currently on Hold.
1. The Unbound Soul

_I started this a long time ago and I plan on finishing, although how long that will take me... i do not know. I've gone through an basically deleted all these huge Author's Notes that decorated my stories in hope to eliminate clutter (i hope this makes ht estory more interesting to the first time viewer)._

_The Jewel was complete. The Jewel was again, shattered. There are, as of yet, no real answers as to why the jewel had been broken again, yet now, after four years together, the group is encountering trials and suspicious happenings that never happened when the jewel had broken the first time. What's taking over Kagome and what is it's connection the Shikon no Tama, time, and the past? How is Inuyasha reacting to his new feelings for Kagome- and Kikyo is dead? Read on to discover the boundaries and the unfailing love through time that persists in controlling the lives of Inuyasha's party; enjoy, When We Went Rogue!!!_

_-Luky_

**Prologue:**

Status

They had been traveling for days... It seemed like each day melted into the other, nothing really existing in between, other than the prominent moans of hunger and fatigue. Every now and then someone in the group would say or do something mildly humorous, which would incite a bored laugh from someone before the thoughts of the group would spiral downwards to mainly focus on the depressing goal that loomed ahead. With the jewel shards completely scattered again, nothing more could be done, other then continuing the journey to retrieving all of them.

They're first quest had taken an entire two and a half years before they had located the entire jewel. Now that the jewel has been split again, it is taking even longer. The responsibility of that most assuredly fell upon the weariest of the travelers. Nothing could be done other then another search to reacquire the newly scattered fragments.

And thus, the weary group was doing what they did best. Traveling in search of the shards was normally not so difficult. Danger, as it would seem, had a knack for following them wherever they went. And danger, in itself, had the knack of trailing jewel shards. Unfortunately, no demon had reared its ugly head and no new jewel shards had appeared as of late. And not to add six layers of icing to the cake but the time of Inuyasha's full transformation into a human was close at hand. Since the others knew this, they decided that now would probably be a good time to find a spot to camp for the night.

It was hard for Kagome and the others to not notice the change in moodiness of Inuyasha. Even the occasional joke was not enough to crack even the smallest signs of laughter or change in expression from him. He spent a great deal of his time walking ahead of the group immersed in some kind of simpleton's deep thought, no matter what anyone said. Kagome had a deep feeling that it wasn't just the new search for the jewel shards that was getting his nose out of joint. They had not encountered any demons for at least one week, and the sheer waiting and endless trudging forward was probably getting to him.

During the past month endless rains had raged against the earth and it didn't show any signs of stopping. So Inuyasha decided that they would just continue to walk, even if it meant catching a cold in the rain. Trees were shattered and it certainly felt like everywhere they went, the storm followed. It was the worst type of luck in the world, and they all seemed to be "soaking it up." It didn't even rain a drop ten feet in front of them until they walked along that path. It was a wonder that none of them had caught a cold, largely due to the fact that Kagome had given everyone a rather well rounded stock of aspirin.

'And earlier today it stopped raining and the skies cleared like nothing had ever fazed us.'

Kagome couldn't help but wonder, though, about when they would come across more information about any new jewel shards. Myouga had not been seen since the time compression, and no one really knew if he even existed in time at all anymore. Why, even Shippou, who had been growing recently and had been sleeping through a good portion of the time they spent traveling, was wondering when something new would happen. But the real truth was that they weren't even certain if the jewels existed at all anymore. Why, they could have left the Warring States era completely and there was no way of knowing. That is, unless you have a "shard detector" with you.

Kagome bowed her head slightly, lifting her eyes to the growing flames. While staying amazingly balanced, she stretched out her arms to close the distance to her chilled hands and the warm of the flame, all the while crouching with her knees bent and the weight of her body supported by the balls of her feet.

It hadn't occurred overnight, the change in Kagome.

More now then ever was she determined to become a better use for the group. And she was, by all means, more useful. But the battles they often times fought never even phased the valiant strength of Inuyasha. And even still the combined forces of Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Kagome were of great use to the skilled swordsman.

But it rarely helped to cheer Kagome up. In fact, it only served to fuel the fire of guilt that had been eating away at her for some time. It might just be her, but as her physical strength increased, the strength of her heart weakened.

'We've... We've been fighting a lot more recently...'

And it was true. Before their last battle, she and Inuyasha had had a fight. He couldn't trust her to defend herself and she couldn't believe that he COULDN'T. They had fought and she had won. For the moment. During that battle, she had almost been killed. Inuyasha had saved her at the last moment. He had come to her and they had saved each other.

'But, sadly, all our strength and good cheer means nothing... Nothing comes without a price, and nothing is what it seems...'

Inuyasha still wasn't the master of his own sword, nor was he the master of his own destiny. Fate would make it that he had to rely more heavily on his companions. It was a night such as this, when the moon sinks completely below the horizon that the ever growing strength of Inuyasha diminishes. It is nights such as this that had a certain traveling group biting their nails and wondering what could happen. It is nights such as this that had Kagome wondering if their sour luck would play a cruel joke and send a demon their way. It is nights such as this that she believed it could happen.

"Kagome?"

"Eh!" Kagome was completely surprised out of her thoughts. It took her a moment to realize that it was Miroku who was talking, and that he had asked her a question. She was so wrapped up in reminiscing that she had completely tuned out to everything around her. Considering that she was still in the Sengoku Era and it was sunset AND Inuyasha was gone, she really couldn't be zoning out or getting lost in thought. "Sorry, Miroku... Could you repeat that please?"

"Won't you go to Inuyasha tonight?" he asked, the firelight glittering in his eyes. "Tonight of all nights is the most frightening for Inuyasha. He too needs protection now and then." Kagome bowed her head. The firelight cast a soft glow against the shine of her newly polished shoes. The wind blew softly and teased the tips of her ebony bangs, giving her a sense of peace that was perpetuated by thought.

'That's right; Inuyasha is all alone out there...' Uncertainty clouded over the girls luminous eyes. A gaze of hesitation peered under the rim of sleep deprived eyelids. 'I don't know if he even needs protection, isn't he the one who is always insisting that he doesn't need anyone's help in protecting himself? Isn't he the one that really does need help? Besides, he has been so awfully distant... That jerk, I haven't even "sat" him in a week and he gives ME the cold shoulder..."

Miroku could only smirk as he watched the deep hesitation flame instantly into irritation. 'Now that is the Kagome I know...' He watched as she stood up carefully, turning to squat down and retrieve the riding bow that was laid against her bright yellow pack and the sling that held the already pre constructed arrows.

Miroku remembered that she had made those from the feathers of the last demon they had slain. She had plucked several from the ground, explaining to him that they would guide better then any other feather they could find. They had belonged to the wings of a fire demon that had attacked the group with flames from its mouth. Inuyasha had given Kagome his coat and she herself had slain the last demon, while riding on Inuyasha's shoulders. Miroku couldn't remember the last time she had smiled like that.

"Miroku, I can use this for a new set of arrows! Kaede taught me about this type of demon! It gets strength from it' wings which are the cause of its great flaming body. After all, we don't have any feathers, and I can make these of use for later, right, Inuyasha!" He remembered she had smiled, tilting her head to beam a brilliant smile at him.

And like always Inuyasha had watched her with a strange expression in his eyes. Miroku had suspected that what Inuyasha felt when he saw Kagome was deeper then anything he had ever encountered before. However, these thoughts were being easily disrupted as the great time of anticipation came strolling in his cross hairs.

Kagome was turning to leave, she secured her sling around her shoulders and the small of her back, letting the long strap hang loosely. 'Better be nice to her Inuyasha' Miroku thought as he watched her retreating figure with much gratitude. He leaned forward intently waiting for the hem of her skirt to flare up. Years of experience should have taught him by now that he wasn't going to get far with that expenditure, nor was he going to come out unscathed for the lecherous spying. His conscience screamed that he was going to pay. It was right.

"You dirty LECH!" The cry of a not-truly-sleeping-demon-exterminator who had been feigning sleep since they had made camp permeated the stillness of the camp. His head, which was waiting calmly for Kagome's skirt to flare up, was forced painfully into the dirt. He sat up, grabbing his head and rubbing the throbbing lump that had appeared, caused by the great hand of the "**_Great _**Tajiya!"

He was spitting out dirt and coughing uncontrollably when he realized that Sango was looking out in the direction Kagome had started walking. He looked in that direction as well, a creeping sensation slithering down his spine. He wondered at first if it was possibly another hand assault, but realized that the look on the Tajiya's face was far from playful. It was down-right serious.

"I wonder..." she started, looking down into the dirt, her sheet sliding down her shoulders like water over flesh. He knew exactly what she was thinking. It occurred to him that it was surprisingly satisfying to watch Kagome with Inuyasha. And whatever the two were feeling, it was sure to rub off on the vivacious Sango, who was currently looking very tasty. Besides, even if it was never spoken aloud, Inuyasha, as territorial as he was, was more then likely at a game of consciousness against Miroku, trying to prove that he was the alpha male here, and that he could get furthest with his woman before Miroku. ((Surprisingly, I find that to be very common with the men in my "village..." hehe.))

Sango was surprised to see Miroku standing up before her. His hand was outstretched to her. The glittering of the flames illuminated his frame, causing him to look like an angel shining in the sun. 'But with those purple robes ad dark hair... not to mention perversion... He could very well be the devil...' She thought of not taking his hand for a moment, but found herself mentally biting her lip and reaching out to grasp his hand. 'Maybe he won't try it; I want to believe that he won't.'

He pulled her to her feet, her cheeks shining brightly, and not from warmth. She stood up, only a breath away from him. If she looked up now, their lips would be barely inches apart, and what then? What would she do? Sango bowed her head, a deeper blush spreading from her cheeks as she lifted her hand to her chest to squeeze the cloth over her pounding heart. 'I wonder what he is thinking; I don't want to look up!' The firelight was completely hidden from her and his figure cast a dark shadow upon her. For no reason she shuddered and her mind instantly took the defense, and she pushed herself away from him.

"We should pack up and follow them..." she said breathlessly. Miroku watched her with eyes that shown something other then admiration for a woman who could take charge. 'Not to mention,' he thought, 'a woman who could resist the charms of such a fine specimen of a man and not be doubling over for desire over him!' ((Is he talking about Inuyasha, because he sue is a fine male specimen if you know what I mean! )) He watched as she bent to tie up her Kagome's sleeping bag. Leaning over, her posterior was in the direct view of both Miroku and the firelight. His mind told him it was not a smart move, but his body said "go for it." He crept closer, is hand reaching out towards its goal eagerly.

The resounding SLAP echoed through the empty forest and carried itself all the way to the other end of the earth.

Kagome stopped, her foot raised and still poised to be placed against the ground. Her eye twitched once, twice, three times. Shivers of sympathy spilled down her spine and had her knees shaking. She placed her foot down, turning to cast a glance from whence she had come, and sent pity thoughts to the victim of the sound, before continuing through the spread of trees. This course of action brought her to the same wall of tortured thoughts she had slammed into before the sound had shocked her off of her train of thought.

'That sound, I should be grateful to it for ripping that thought from me.' But considering what that sound had meant, she seriously considered contradicting herself.

She tried vainly to remember what it was that she had been thinking of, but when unsuccessfulness plagued her, she gave up, assuming that she would mostly likely remember by the end of the evening. 'But,' she thought, 'I have to get to Inuyasha before sundown at least. If not, nobody truly knows what could happen.' Considering the walk was taking longer then suspected, she wondered if it would have been better to bring a textbook instead of her bow and arrows.

'The likely hood of a Demon attacking us tonight after so long is slim to none...' She stopped, her fingers tightening around the cord that sliced diagonally across her chest to secure her sling to her shoulder blades, 'but there is still a chance, and my inquisition tells me that night is tonight...'

With that realization, she began to walk faster. After a moment or two, she started to walk even faster. Then she started to jog. And then she jogged even quicker then normal. A wild, unreasonable sense of foreboding slithered through her mind. It sent a chill to her toes, and this time she just lifted her legs and ran.

Kagome's pulse was beating rapidly in her throat. Fear propelled her faster, until she wasn't even sure if her feet were touching the ground. 'After all these years, Inuyasha still has acknowledged the fact that I am not in-fact just a simple weakling!' Then she realized dully that the sun had just completely faded. She stopped, her hair flinging forward over her face, as she lifted her hand to search the sky for any source of light.

When none was found, she let a whisper. So soft that it almost instantly disappeared among the trees...

"Inuyasha..."

It would appear charming, but it reeked of fear and desperation that only a fool wouldn't be able to understand. Kagome didn't need to be told twice, her mind, and her heart, told her that this was a night that would change everything.

'If I don't get to Inuyasha soon...'

It was almost as if Kagome was an extension of herself, and that her mind was pondering to itself. It was a strange feeling, like something, or better yet, someone was telling her, urging her, towards some spiral of destiny. Some course that must be taken for fate to throw her entire world into itself. She didn't really understand this, but she knew that she was right. The voice in her head insisted she go faster as she surged through the trees.

Had she taken any time to notice, she was moving automatically. If she had noticed, her eyes had a shiny purple ring around it, and the jewel shards at her throat were shining brilliantly. Too wrapped up in apprehension and alarm, no, Kagome herself was locked away and it was that thought, that need for some kind of completion, that propelled the girl towards her destination, a destination that was wrought with tears, anguish and suffering. Fate urged her, encouraged her, demanded that she go forward and face the trial of her own soul.

In all of the years Kagome had spent in the feudal era, she had never truly learned all of the Miko techniques like Kikyo had. However, considering she never actually trained to be one, she was exceptionally good at Miko abilities. But as she ran, her eyes fully purple, her hair flaring behind her like a banner, she, in her semi conscious state, used a technique that even the Lady Kikyo was not able to accomplish during life. It was so old of a technique that it could have shocked any demon in the area that had lived in the time of the priestess who created it. But in truth, it was like something was controlling Kagome, and she was somewhere in the corners of her own mind, while some stronger force used her body as its shell.

The Priestess Kagome, as she ran, threw out the parameters of her own mind, flinging her very soul out into the trees. It absorbed through them. It glided along unseen waves of vibrations in the air until it reached its destination and like sonar she latched onto the location of the one she was searching for and continued to tear the underbrush and foliage. Even as the knowledge poured through Kagome, she still utilized it like she was the master and creator. With a precession that came with years, Kagome drew her soul back into her own body.

It took Kagome a long while to regain consciousness, and before she even realized it, she was back on her own feet and had not even been aware of what had just happened. Even while the knowledge of a place she was heading for circulated in her heart and mind, she couldn't remember where she had learned that information. When she felt the dull throb in her chest, she realized that she was heading towards Inuyasha, and she closed her eyes and ran forward calling his name at the top of her lungs.

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**End of Chapter Author Commentary:**

Chapter History

Started: 12/31/04

Finished: 1/1/04

Revised: 2/23/04

Final Revision: 5/22/04

Review!

-Luky


	2. Rogue

_It took me a long time to be satisfied with this chapter; Enjoy._

_-Luky_

( ' means a thought ' )

**Chapter One**

Rogue

A gentle breeze whispered over a grassy hill that extended from the edge of a towering forest. There, sitting on the grass was what looked like a regular man. Anyone who happened to pass by and spare him a quick glance would believe so. But if they peered closer, they would see that he was no ordinary man-- he was indeed something very different.

The darkness of the forest was a deep change between the stars that shone down upon the earth from the empty sky, casting a contrast of light and dark. The night air was filled with scent of the impending days of summer, all the while remaining fresh. Still, it was ironic that the man was seated in between the shadow of the forest and the light of the stars.

Much like his life, he was always in between the lines of normality and abnormality. The sufferings of the past were forever shrouded in darkness. Hate, fear, and anguish. That was his past and his present. He was forever trapped in the echoes of the long ago sufferings of the time he had spent in adolescence and was unable, even now, several years after the fact, to cut free of the ties that bind ones heart and soul to the past. Thus, his present was uncontrollably altered by his unwillingness to heal and let go...

_"Inuyasha!" she cried, racing after him. He stopped, holding his sword above his head, poised over the writhing body of a Kappa. In one blow he could slice it in half. How many times had he done this? How many times had she stopped him from taking the final killing blow? What kind of mercy did she have to spare a demon like this?!_

She had been crying, he remembered. She had cried and cried, even when he had put his sword back into his sheath she had continued to let out tears. Later that night, she had come to him and explained why she was so upset.

_"Inuyasha?" she had asked, "may I sit with you?" He had grunted his usual "Keh" and suddenly became seriously interested in the ground a few yards away from him. _

_"Inuyasha, the Kappa had no control over himself, he was under the influence of a tainted jewel shard, you know that..." she had looked down, considering on how to continue on with the subject. "Inuyasha, he was being controlled by Naraku! He had no power of his own body and mind, couldn't you see that!" He had seen, but an animal like rage had consumed him and he had lifted the sword, prepared to smite the Kappa for the vengeance of the death of countless villagers. It had almost slain Kagome... Even now, he could see the dark bruise appearing on the side of her face where it had struck her._

_But even still, his steely resolve would not crumble, and instead, he set his entire body on self defense mode to not show to Kagome that her words were striking home. _

_"You would have slain him, Inuyasha, for something he did not even do!" He had continued to pretend that he wasn't affected, and she stood up, indignantly, and cried, "Just as Naraku pitted Sango against Kohaku? Just as he did with you and me?" She had stopped and taking a deep breath, she said in a strained/angry voice "Like he pitted you and Kikyo against each other..." He wasn't able to stop the visible flinch that flowed over him and Kagome saw it too. He had felt the deep dagger of pain slice across his chest, and he looked up to her face, shining with rage and something he couldn't place his claws on. _

_"So that gets something out of you? I'll remember that if I ever need to tell you anything all I have to do is mention Kikyo and you will pay attention!" He didn't look at her. Couldn't she tell how he... felt? Her scent had changed, but the scent of tears... It wasn't there for once. He visibly sighed. "You have a choice Inuyasha. You were going to make a choice, and it was the wrong one!"_

_She stared down and took a deep breath then plopped back down onto the ground. She let out a heavy sigh and told him that she didn't want to fight with him like this. He had remained silent. He peaked at her from the side of his eyes, and she caught him. She let out a faint smile. He could no sooner stop it then change the fact that his heart felt it, his eyes melted. _

_"History is made to repeat itself, Inuyasha. You can't look me in the eyes and tell me you want to be a demon... You don't want to be Naraku..." He looked down again. 'I'm like...' he thought numbly as the realization hit him in a fire of rage!_

_"Inuyasha, I-" she started, but he interrupted her, in a flat voice, so unlike the voice of Inuyasha. "If by becominga demon I am like Naraku, then that is my wish and you are not a part of it." Kagome was taken aback so much, that tears instantly had clouded her eyes. He just turned his eyes to her and saw the budding tears and his heart gave a slow, painful turn... _

'My voice, everything about me that night... I was so bitter,' he thought.

_She had let out a choke and stood, turning her back to him. From the side of his eye he saw Miroku and Sango staring. He heaved a heavy sigh and watched as Kagome steeled herself. She went rigid and told him in a strained voice, "Then so be it." She had walked off, and he had turned away from her, to stare at the ground by his feet._

_That night was softer then the others. The stars were starker, but not necessarily brighter. It was chilly in the tree that night. As Inuyasha tried vainly to push the soft sound of sniffling from below him out of his mind he shivered, guilt and shame playing around in his features and heart._

_Alone. Terribly alone._

_But it was true, he couldn't change a desire that burned so brightly within him-- the desire of mindless oblivion._

'I was so sick with myself that I couldn't take it and I left her there crying into the night.' But he realized now, that even while history repeated itself, he was not bound by its vigilant grasp on him. While his past haunted him, and he knew he would never forget it, his future promised him something better. Maybe the sweet embrac of death would be better, after he achieved his revenge, then the oblivin of battle...

'Kagome...'

Yet... She promised him something better by simply staying by his side. That was what he was supposed to continue to protect. Protect the future so that maybe, just maybe, he could throw aside his pain for something better then oblivion... Maybe he could live for her and try to be happy despite her tainted hands and the woman to whom she was the reincarnation...

With a glance at the stars, he frowned, seeing the sun complete disappear from the sky. He felt his claws receding, his ears drawing down the slope of his face to form into regular human ears. He felt his strength slip away from him. And last of all, he lost the nostalgic scent of the sun and the fade of summer. No longer could he smell the brisk cool wind teasing the hair on his ears... He was alone, again, and human.

Just before his senses disappeared entirely, he caught the faint feel of energy pulsing in the distance. It didn't give him the the feel he thought it would but its presence was still noticed. He didn't need someone to tell him that someone from his little 'group' was coming. By the strength of the aura he figured the person out to be Kagome.

He shifted, uncomfortable in his human form.

He didn't need to be a doctor to know that Kagome, with her kind and caring nature, and unbelievable amounts of mercy, was coming to heal and dress the wounds that he had so obviously displayed to the entire traveling party. He had sulked, pouted, and practically threw a hissy, all the while lapsing into complete and total silence and being... he guessed an "Asshole".

Everyone was probably wondering if he was insane or not. Probably. 'But,' he thought, 'all this waiting is killing me... There is so much I just dont know..." he thought, ' and even Kagome and the others have their times to be alone.'

'Besides, she must know that I am most vulnerable as a human! She must be coming now so she can more easily persuade me to tell her what has been wrong with me.' Inuyasha mentally scoffed his usual, "Keh." No level of argument could sweep him from his steely resolve. Not even puppy dog eyes!

"Fat Chance!" he scoffed.

'Still, I want to tell her. I want to tell her what it is I am thinking. I want to tell her...' he mentally paused, stumbling over his words. He wanted to tell her something, and how far would he go with that when he couldn't even think of what to say as he thought to himself!

'I want to tell her and everyone else to just leave me the alone! I want Kagome to stop being a stupid litte girl!!!' But that wasn't true. He was lying to himself, again. It had become a constant mental battle between his conscious and the memories of his past. It was tiring and often times put him in a sour mood. It didn't help to compare the past to the present; he was finding himself feeling things that were different from before. 'After all, nobody likes to try new things and my past... that is all that I know... How can I not compare it to now? Comparing my life then to now... It's so different... I...'

'I have changed, but I am still the same Inuyasha that longed for the blessed oblivion of battle. I still long for it with every breath of my being. When I get into a battle it is hard for me to stop because it is in my nature-- i've made it that way. I dont want to deal with this life anymore but something, maybe Kagome... is holding me back...'

Even though Inuyasha was no longer a hanyou, he held the Tetsugaiga closer to himself, drawing strength from the sheath alone. It was a habit that he was not fond of. Would it make him more vulnerable if he lost the sword and reached to it for comfort and it not to be there? You never know what you got 'till you lost it, right? He needed the sword, but what happened when the accustomed comfort didn't come? Would he lose the control that it offered him? Would he find himself becoming enraged and devouring his friends? Devouring Kagome?

Did he really want to become a demon..?

_'No!'_

'Why does a demonic oblivion sound better then death? Am I scared to die?! What kind of friend am I anyway? The many times I have risked the lives of my comrades, of Kagome? And they still stay with me even though I can turn demon anytime.' It seemed, at least to Inuyasha, that the recent demons had known to sweep his sword away from him. He had been forced to fight without it many times. Yet everyone...

'I could devour Kagome and the others in an instant, and they would not fight me, or even strike at me in any way. They would simply accept it,' he frowned, 'minus Miroku of course, who would have fled before hand. And even in my frenzy for blood, Kagome is the one with the power to subdue me... She makes me the weakest in will and in strength... What if I attacked her first?!' He shuddered, the core of his thoughts shimmering like a wave in the back of his mind ready to sweep up and devour all other thought. He shook his head, trying vainly to clear his mind.

'It's not like I have much control anyway! When I turn into a human it is even worse. My thoughts get incoherent and overwhelm me. It's like in battle. I fight well, I will admit that much, but as a human... It's a wonder how Miroku and Sango can get along. In this state I can't protect everyone, least of all Kagome!' It took awhile for Inuyasha to admit, grudgingly, that Kagome wasn't weak either. And as much as he just hated admitting it, she really didn't need his protection as much as she had in the past. She seemed to know herself, seemed to be able to control her emotions better... 'Well,' he thought with another frown, 'a little better...'

'But why,' he thought again, 'would she follow me tonight after all the horrible things that had been betwen them so recently?' There was no way she would be stupid enough to follow him when he had already been irritable when he left. She surely had more sense then that. Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched in irritation as he wondered aloud, "why the hell did you have to come and try to screw my mind up now, Kagome!" But it was no lie that she, like everyone else in the group, had noticed that he was in a sour mood and was probably coming in an effort to ease his frazzled nerves. But her presence was anything but relaxing, especially when Inuyasha was a human. If anything, it made him tenser and reserved when she visited him as a human. His... feelings... were more likely to show...

Inuyasha balled his fist up, and brought it down viciously against the ground, a ball of dust puffing up around his hand. Surprised, he brought his hand up close to his eyes. He watched in a weird fascination as a red line slid slowly across his knuckle, blood welling and slipping from the weight of the blood down the slope of his knuckles to dribble from his fingertips to his pants leg. His **human **fingertips. It had been so long since he had smelled his own blood that he was surprised when the scent sliced through his senses like a knife reminding him that the pain was very real, and was currently getting more painful.

'Haha,' he thought, 'even if I am a Hanyou, I will always have this time when I am weak and vulnerable. Even if...' he paused, not even daring to dream, 'even if I live, I will have to endure the extreme anxiety that comes when I am human. It will be like when I was all alone...' He frowned, sinking lower into his thoughts, 'I was always frightened and so terribly lonely...'

_"But you're not alone, anymore, Inuyasha!" _

Inuyasha sighed Kagome's name. It feathered over his lips and lifted into the wind to dance in the air. Her happiness. Her joy. Her smiles. Her wants and her dreams... She had stayed by his side all these years. They had been together for most of the time. His heart had fluttered at the thought of her, even while his stubborn mind resigned to think of the negative. He felt the flutter, but ruthlessly shoved it down before it could be recognized for what it was. Instead he thought-

'I'm just a dirty Hanyou! What could I ever hope to accomplish in the world! Can I honestly say that I depend on others to help survive! NO! Even in battles, it is mainly just me fighting! It's all me! I'm the only one here. I'm the only one who must feel this way! I've never really had anyone there with me. In fact, it was always just me in the battles doing anything... It was like a completely different alone all together.'

These thoughts were sheer echoes of what he had been thinking all his life. Constantly put down, tossed aside because of his blood. Does the shape of his ears make him any less of a man? It had mattered so much to him before. So much so, that he had hated life for it. He had hated humans, and had longed for a life of absolute power. Now he knew that the power he had craved was but a mindless rage that would throw away his mind and seal away his heart. Being with Kagome and the others had made him realize the errors he had suffered in the past...

_It had been more then 55 years since he had changed. Back then, he lived only to see the next day. While flying through the trees, he had passed over a camp where men were talking. Perching on a tree, he listened as they talked with more then a thirst for knowledge in his eyes. During that time, the men spoke of a jewel that would grant any wish of the owner. Naturally, Inuyasha heard more and more as the tail was beginning to circulate. He hadn't wasted a second after coming across a demon centipede, half of its body had been missing and it screeched out through a mouth that spouted foam, "Give me back the Shikon JEWEL!" He had gone forth to see if the information was true. Sure enough, he found the village where the demon had led him to, but found that he had an unwanted adversary that was protecting it. _

_This adversary was a Miko. Calm, cool, collected, and very lethal. It didn't help the fact that this Miko was a woman. But even still, he tried futily to retrieve the jewel while battling the emotions that were stirred within him over the young woman. He found that he was lacking in wisdom on many things, one of which being sneaking into places. Since his childhood, he had grown up to be a "run through the front door with your claws swinging," type of guy. He tended to use the brunt force, and didn't strategize. Often times she would catch him as he was simply crouching down, readying to spring on her. It was a surprise to him that his strategy was not succeeding. _

_But what bothered him most, was that she never killed him. Every time she would pin him down with her arrows. Never did she slay him like she had with other demons. She once told him that it was because they were the same. He remembered scoffing and turning to leave and then catching her expression. It had made him feel things that weren't meant to be felt._

_Longing. _

_He had seen the same loneliness in himself. She was secluded too, her place in the world was all her own. She too longed for normalcy. _

_He had not intended to fall in love with her, but soon found himself doing just that. He was puzzled and intrigued by the simple fact that she never killed him-- they were the same. It should have been enough. He should have ridden on those emotions to the eventual path that love will lead a person. He couldn't explain his own actions as he began to follow her everywhere._

_They had become... friends... of a kind. _

_Even still, he should have known the feelings, should have recognized them for what they were. It took a kiss in the sunset to clear his mind. The feel of her lips lightly dancing on his made his head sing with confusion and joy that he just couldn't name... At the time, he knew it not to be love and even now... wasnt so sure..._

She had stopped him. Even now, he could not understand why she had stopped him from saying the words. Had she merely felt like they were unnecessary? He had wanted to speak aloud, that same night she told him he could use the Shikon no Tama to turn himself into a human, that she would be his.

_'Then you'll be my wo-...' _

He shook his head. It was the very next days that they're lives were changed.

_He went to the place where they were to meet, fully intent on changing his every dream and desire just to be with her. He was worried, they had not set a time for them to meet. As he was about to head to the village to see what the hold up was, he felt something coming towards him. He dodged it just it time, baring his teeth and turning to his hidden adversary. _

_A voice. It spoke such vile, evil things. _

_"Die, Inuyasha!"_

_Her voice._

_It was she, her bow raised and another arrow notched and pointed exactly at his chest. Her face. It was contorted into such a ghastly expression that it made his blood run cold. It was enough to turn the flame that had started to warm his heart into scorching whips of anger and betrayal. His hopes. All of his hopes of happiness, peace, of no longer a scorned spawn of two different races, shattered like glass. He was once again the fevered hanyou lost in a dark desire for the oblivion that the shikon Jewel had to offer._

_He could remember in stark details the way it felt to have the blood of the villagers coursing over his hands, slipping down his arms. He remembered the feel of his claws raking across buildings, slashing up homes, ransacking everything. _

_He remembered to feel of the shikon jewel as he ripped it from its pedestal. It had felt like an electric shock. He hesitated for only a moment and was actually startled when the doors burst open behind him. He had dodged their arrows just in time, jumping through the roof, and the waves of energy spiraling up towards him as he leapt from the building in a flurry of explosions. His heart was almost completely black. He had switched modes, almost mechanically, and had shifted into something else... Something that was trapped and rabid._

_And most vividly, he remembered leaping off of houses, running down the steps and flitting down the walkway of Higurashi shrine-_

_'I'll use this to become a full demon and no one will be able to call me a hanyou again!'_

_-and feeling the magic arrow pierce through his side, pinning him to a tree. _

_The feel of the Shikon jewel slipping from his fingers as his vision blurred with the slow drop of his hair over his eyes was akin to the feeling of your gut dropping to the floor. Kikyo had betrayed him. She stood with her bow drawn and the string still thrumming with the release of mystical magic. She had such a look on her face... He had cursed her very existence that day, hated her and wished for her death. _

'Had I really though? I know... I don't hate Kikyo... I never have...'

_It wasn't supposed to be like that though. They had been tricked, deceived... And it was all because Naraku had wanted to pollute the jewel. But he was mistaken, Kikyo, who had selflessly devoted her life to the Shikon Jewel, took it with her peacefully into death, down into hell. And for Fifty years Inuyasha had waited... And then, he had awakened. His first thought, was the scent of Kikyo, the witch who had killed him and that was how he had meant Kagome for the first time. _

It was funny, now that he thought about it. Who would have thought that the woman who had killed him, her reincarnation, the rebirth of her soul, would reappear in ancient times to free Inuyasha from the Fuuin no Ya that his first love had put him in???

...his _first_ love...

_Kagome had looked so young then. He had easily mistaken her for the Priestess that had sealed him to Goshinboku. It was definitely ironic, how the two girls could share the same soul, but be so different. She had shown him anger, something he was not accustomed to. Most humans he had been around had shown only fear and hate, but rarely anger. She was the reincarnation of the woman he had "loved." Whenever he saw Kagome, he could no sooner see her then remember what had happened to her._

'And,' he thought, "Naraku destroyed everything I had begun to assemble! He murdered Kikyo! Had he never existed at all?' Inuyasha frowned, gritting his teeth and clenching his eyes shut angrily. He clenched his hand, his fingers tightening and his human nails bite into his flesh palms. After awhile he released his grip. While his human side had taken over his thoughts, and the demon side had relinquished control over his countenance, his transformation could no sooner change his heart, nor his attitude...

He couldn't believe his thoughts. They were disorganized and sporadic, often switching gears as swiftly as the wind changed. It was no surprise that he had spent the last hour reminiscing. His human emotions were swarming with feelings that he simply hated being present. It was much nicer to not feel anything at all...

He had wanted so much while Kikyo was alive, he had longed for so much. Had he really had the right to desire so much? Was it his right to allow Kagome to stay with him even though he knew he was putting her in danger every time they went out into a battle-- even when he knew he couldnt give her what she truly wanted? Was it in his right, to think such thoughts about Kikyo, and allow Kagome to be with him? If there was one thing Kagome had taught him, it was that he was a person, whether or not he had demonic blood coursing through his vain, because he had a heart and it beat true and strong in his chest. He couldn't hide what he felt for Kikyo. Kagome saw it many times, each time she changed and said not a word. And each time Inuyasha felt bad for expressing that much. But at the same time, other emotions stirred within him...

'Did i ever truly love Kikyo?' Inuyasha frowned. He considered the emotions within him that he had held onto for so long. Her pure innocence and devotion to the jewel had made him think she could be truly devoted to him, utterly his... And her loneliness was something akin to the despair he felt within himself when he would sleep alone at night, without a mate. When he died and started out with Kagome-- well, he didn't know what it was that he felt now, but it was strong. And what disturbed him the most, was that... well, Kagome.

She perplexed him and disturbed him. She inspired him to a degree that he thought maybe he could take on the world. The way she smiled... the way she was always at his side made a small smile, even now, slide accross his face without knowing. She was the glint of confidence in his eyes when he withdrew his sword and the wind that urged him forward when he took flight. She was his air, and in turn, she was as easy to blow away with foul tempers... or even death, as the wind was to dust...

He WANTED her to stay. He needed her, if only to keep himself from falling away into confusion about where he was supposed to be goig in life... If only to know that she was near, when nightmares plagued his sleep. If only to be the smile that turned his frozen heart into fire and his insides a flame.

Somewhere inside he knew his selfishness was causing Kagome to be hurt, but she had asked to stay with him just as he had longed to ask her. She was a cheerful girl by her nature alone and she had her own personal, enduring strength that he could see hidden behind her amber eyes. The pain that she showed whenver they faught was like daggers into his lungs. He wondered if it was his fault that she seemed to have a difficulty smiling. She was so kind, and gracious, telling him to do as she knew he heart wanted.

She had always stressed that he should follow his heart, whatever that meant. Even during those times, her expression would remain unreadable. It was her eyes. Those eyes that melted him. He knew that he felt something for her, but it was frightening and he simply didn't want to face what it meant. Instead, he lied to himself to keep himself from repeating past mistakes. He just didn't want to have to face

Which was another things that he had been very concerned about lately...

It was so hard to keep the to woman seperate when Kagome was starting to look and act more like Kikyo.It seemed like Kagome was changing in strength and it was very hard for him to accept the change, let along the physical changes in her appearance and attitude that was alarming. She was resilient, and often tiring. She was still Kagome, but there were times when she seemed so distant, as if some part of her was closed off to him. He couldn't place it. And there was no denying the fact that he didn't like it.

She would be strong one moment and the next, tired. She would be awake in the early morning was but not actually "with it" until late in the afternoon, if not ever at all. She was constantly lethargic and he had never seen her like that for such long periods of time... And it wasn't like these changes were every now and then... No, they were every day. It made him curl his fingers as if he was going to fight of an invisible foe.

Kikyo had been strong. There was no doubt in him that her spiritual powers had been great. But something or someone made her lose her will to fight. With Kagome, she never seemed like she WANTED to quit... at anything! When the sudden fevers came, she would fight them. She would insist that they go on, continuing forward in there walks. She was strong. But even sometimes her strength would fail her, and she would fall, completely exhausted.

Every morning that she had where she woke up at one time, but never got really going, every time a rapid fever would ravage her, every time her knees got weak she was normal. But as she got stronger, overcame the fevers, woke up with a start, or walked longer and farther then any of the others, her eyes would glow. They hadn't noticed it at first, the dull tint to her eyes. It was a dark purple tint. But gradually they began to notice it. When it became a line around the rim of her pupils, they had consulted with Kaede. She had her own theories, as well as Miroku. Inuyasha had been there from sheer worry and from the desire to understand what was happening her.

But whatever it was, it didn't seem to be life threatening, not really. She would faze out and look at them like they weren't there bnut she still acted the same... sort've. She would talk, almost normally. Kaede had warned them that whatever was happening to her, it could be dangerous but that it could also be an effect from the constant time travel her young body had endured all these years... eitherway, he didn't like it not one bit.

But those moments when her fatigue showed, her eyes didn't glow and that was what was so perplexing. It was like whenever that light was there, Kagome was fine. And during those moments, she was as lively as she ever was. It was a weird situation... and he was greatly annoyed by it all the time. Maybe this was why he was always so pissed off and mean as hell-

_"INUYASHA!"_

Inuyasha frowned, the voice of the woman who was occupying his thoughts was screaming in his head. When he heard it call out again, he realized that it was a very real noise, and it was coming closer. 'Damn, I knew she was coming, why did I have to get caught up in my thoughts so much that I wouldn't even here her calling to me!' He resolved to stare straight ahead and act like he had not heard her at all. When he heard her call out again, his eyes bulged. 'Was that a scream of fright?!'

"Kagome!" he cried, shocked, but instinct took over and he stood and turned to the direction of Kagome's voice. He saw her dart through the bushes. His looked up, his hand reaching for Tetsugaiga, his alarm furthering when he saw the pale purple glow from her eyes. 'It's DIFFERENT this time! Her entire eyes are SHINING, like a light!'

He started up to the hill towards her, and she screamed, pointing over his head. Inuyasha watched the shadow creep over him, casting the ground into perfect darkness. He stopped, and looked up to Kagome, her hair briefly flinging in front of her face as she came to a screaming halt, the light in her eyes faded almost instantly. It fluttered in the air and he turned away, looking up, silently relieved on the most primal of ways, into the giant demon's glowing red eyes.

_'INUYASHA!'_

Kagome came to a stop, her heart beating wildly in her chest, the wind lifting her clothes to flutter in the wind. She felt a strange sensation as if she had lost something that hadn't truly fit in the first place, her body became suddenly heavy as the dull purple color in her eyes disappeared. She looked up, and saw Inuyasha staring up into the giant demon's eyes. She screamed again, her arm reaching instinctively behind her to grip an arrow, while the other brought the bow into position. She hooked the arrow into the notch and pulled back the string, the flame colored feathers shining brightly, and let the arrow fly.

Inuyasha, though a human, felt the thrum of power as the arrow was released. Not needing any initiative, he ducked, eating the dirt. He looked up in time to watch the flaming arrow slice through one side of the mass above him. The demon shrieked, a gaping hole appearing in its chest where the arrow had flown through. One of its heavy tentacles reached to the hole and pressed against the oozing black muck with a might that could have crushed a giant. The skin melted and reformed a new layer of poisonous spines forming over the new flesh. Inuyasha stood up, he could barely see. He turned to Kagome, his eyes telling her something that his voice could not before yelling, "LIGHT!"

Not needing any other information, she hooked another arrow onto the notch. She fired it straight into the ground. It shot a red flare of fire through the sky until it landed directly in front of the demon. It stopped midway into the dirt, continuing to burn. 'Damn right, Kagome, damn right!' Inuyasha smirked, reaching for the Tetsugaiga. He felt the demon move, it screeched, its face tilting to the sky. It tensed for a moment and faced Kagome. Inuyasha turned as it sped directly for her. It slithered over the arrow and kept going.

"Kagome! GET OUT OF THERE!" Inuyasha screamed, running as fast as he could in her direction. He mentally cursed his human legs as they strained against the speed he wanted. He watched as she froze, still holding her bow, and looked up at the creature that was swooping down upon her, one of its claws jeering forward to strike her.

She suddenly came to life again. Reached behind her, she raised her bow, her hand closing around another arrow, she hooked it and let it loose. The magical arrow flew from her fingertips and pierced the other side of the demon, an inhumane screech piercing the crisp night air as another part of the hideous creature was incinerated. The creature, thrown off balance, began to fall. Sensing the lack of balance; it struck one of its giant tentacles out to grasp something as if to right itself. It struck a tentacle on the ground, digging into the ground with it's sheer mass. The appendage quivered, and without warning, expelled the layer of spine on covering its green flesh. Several of them shot in Kagome's direction.

She threw her hands up, covering her face and calling out to Inuyasha. She was pitched sideways as he slammed into her from the side, knocking the breath out of her and sending her flying with a crunch and a painful spray of rocks into the ground. As she fell, she felt something slice against her left cheekbone; the pain sent a small thrill down her spine. They slid across the dirt until the rocks turned into rocks and grass, several yards away from the forest and more then a few yards away from the demon.

Inuyasha lifted his upper body with his arms to peer into Kagome's face. He reached out one hand and tilted her face in his palm, checking for any serious injuries. Her voice echoed in his mind like a chant. A bit of wisdom she had passed down to him from one of those giant books she was always carrying back and forth through time. It was a book... What did she say about head injuries?

'If someone is hurt in the head, they're eyes should have trouble focusing, and that is the first thing you check for when you get into an accident. If something happens to someone with their head, it needs to be treated immediately.'

'That's right, Kagome was laughing then... '

What if I never get to see her laugh again?'

He checked her eyes, lifting her eyelids to peer into her sockets. It wasn't the first time that he found them rolling. She moaned, turning her head to the side. He felt himself bite his lips as he saw the clean straight line of blood that was slashed directly over her cheek bone. The blood slithered down from the cut in a perfect line. It could have been painted on there. Emotions swelled inside of Inuyasha's head as he picked himself off of her. She turned her head to the side again, her eyes fluttering open. It took her a moment but she sat up as soon as she realized they were in the middle of a battle.

She saw a giant creature that was writhing, but was steadily picking itself up and off of the ground. She had never seen any manner of creature similar to this one ever before. It had a huge head. Its lower body was a mass of tentacles that writhed and slithered over the ground while black smog seeped over the ground where it was trying to stand. Sickly spines were covering the tips of the tentacles and dripping with yellow/green liguid. Wherever the creature stepped, the grass and other weeds melted, liquefying almost instantly. They shriveled and curled into themselves like paper set to flame. Its head was a huge green mass with a jaw that took up more the half of the face. Ooze gurgled from its oversized jaw where razor sharp teeth protruded. Yellow fog slipped from its mouth to taint the air. The smell reached her nose and she had to hold back the impulse to throw up the apple she had eaten earlier. It roared, lifting itself from the ground with a spray of black fog from its underside.

"Kagome! Do you sense any jewel shards?" he asked, his back to her. Kagome looked up, her gaze shifting in and out of focus. She whispered, trying to locate any source of evil or pure energy. The dark splotch in her vision had to be the demon, but why wasn't she seeing things like normal! Why! "Inuyasha, I can't tell if it has any!" He grunted, lifting the sword up, both hands on the hilt, in a position to defend. "Kagome, hurry, get back to Miroku and Sango, quickly!"

Kagome brushed off her legs and struggled to get up. She rubbed her left side of her face, realizing dully that she couldn't feel it. She passed it off as a momentary injury from her previous fall and didn't see the blood that was on her fingers. She slowly stood, her knees shaking and straining to lift her up. The muscles in her legs quivered and jerked as she stood. A drop of sweat slipped down the side of her face as she reared up, when she finally came to a complete stand up, she yelled, pain jerking her legs again.

"What the hell? Kagome!" Inuyasha rushed to her side, still holding the untransformed Tetsugaiga in his hand as her gripped her arms to steady her. Warmth flared up through Kagome but was instantly repressed with a chill that had her shaking uncontrollably. Inuyasha clutched her, worry flitting over his features as he watched a dull purple throb of light flash in Kagome's eyes. His hands tightened on her and he dropped Tetsugaiga to grab hold of her more tightly. He had to fight the urge to shake her until her eyes returned to normal, but he wasn't given that chance.

'Look out!' a voice cried out in Kagome's mind. Her eyes, unfocused cast a furtive glance over Inuyasha's shoulder. She gasped, grabbing Inuyasha's chest, her hands fisting in the cloth there as she saw a tentacle veer out and whip across Inuyasha's back, viscously sending him crashing against her, smashing her arms between they're chests. Blood spurted from his mouth and into the air, and Kagome screamed his name in horror. The landed with a thud onto the ground, Inuyasha's black hair sliding over them like a curtain, his head bouncing off of her chest as he slid lower down her body with the continued bounce from the fall.

Kagome felt Inuyasha's blood trickle down and over her stomach. She mentally screamed, failing to notice the suggestive position they were in. Cringing, Inuyasha struggled to pull himself up. She clutched his shoulders desperately, mentally commanding him to get up faster. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but found that she couldn't move her face. Fear slashed down her spine like lightning and lit her eyes with fright. Inuyasha, whose eyes were slowly opening, bulged when he saw that Kagome's face was paralyzed. The fear in his eyes had his arm weakly reaching forward to touch her face. He saw the small slash mark glowing, the same purple of her eyes, and he clenched his fist in alarm.

'Kagome-- she doesnt have any expression!!!'

* * *

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**End of Chapter Author Commentary:**

Started: 12/31/03

Finished: 1/01/04

Revised: 1/03/04

Revised: 3/21/04:

**Revised: 12/16/07**

_Clarification No.2: It has been FOUR years. Inuyasha is now 23, Kagome is 19. Can we say, LEGAL!_

_Clarification No. 3: Fuuin no Ya is the arrow of sealing. Essentially, the spell Kikyo cast on Inuyasha to bind him to the tree._

_-Luky_


	3. At The Breaking Point

_Well here we are, chapter two: God its only chapter two!_

_-Luky_

**Chapter Two:**

At The Breaking Point

"Kagome! GET OUT OF THERE!" Inuyasha screamed, running as fast as he could in her direction. She stopped, still holding her bow, and looked up at the creature that was swooping down upon her, one of its claws jeering forward to strike her.

She reached behind her and raised her bow and let loose another magic arrow, a shrill shriek piercing the crisp night air as another part of the hideous creature was incinerated. The creature, thrown off balance, began to fall. Sensing the lack of balance; it struck one of its giant tentacles out to grasp something. Its arm was quivering, and without warning, shot out several spines in Kagome's direction.

Kagome threw her hands up, covering her face and calling out to Inuyasha. She was pitched sideways as something slammed into her from the side, knocking the breath out of her and sending her flying with a crunch and a painful spray of rocks into the ground. As she fell, she felt something slice against her left cheekbone; the pain sent a small thrill down her spine. They slid across the dirt until the rocks turned into rocks and grass, several yards away from the forest and more then a few yards away from the demon.

Inuyasha, lifting his upper body with his arms to peer into Kagome's face, tilted his face in her palm, checking for any serious injuries. Her voice echoed in his mind like a chant. A bit of wisdom she had passed down to him from one of those giant books she was always carrying back and forth through time. It was a book... What did she say about head injuries?

'If someone is hurt in the head, they're eyes should have trouble focusing, and that is the first thing you check for when you get into an accident. If something happens to someone with their head, it needs to be treated instantly.'

'That's right, Kagome was laughing then... '

What if I never get to see her laugh again?'

He checked her eyes, lifting her eyelids to peer into her sockets. It wasn't the first time that he found them rolling. She moaned, turning her head to the side. He felt himself bite his lips as he saw the clean straight line of blood that was slashed directly over her cheek bone. The blood slithered down from the cut in a perfect line. It could have been painted on there. Emotions swelled inside of Inuyasha's head as he picked himself off of her. She turned her head to the side again, her eyes fluttering open. It took her a moment but she sat up as soon as she realized they were in the middle of a battle.

She saw a giant creature that was writhing, but was steadily picking itself up and off of the ground. She had never seen any manner of creature similar to this one ever before. It had a huge head. Its lower body was a mass of tentacles that writhed and slithered over the ground while black smog seeped over the ground where it was trying to stand. Wherever the creature stepped, the grass and other weeds melted, liquefying almost instantly. They shriveled and curled into themselves like paper set to flame. Its head was a huge green mass with a jaw that took up more the half of the face. Ooze gurgled from its oversized jaw where razor sharp teeth protruded. Yellow fog slipped from its mouth to taint the air. The smell reached her nose and she had to hold back the impulse to throw up the apple she had eaten earlier. It roared, lifting itself from the ground with a spray of black fog from its underside.

"Kagome! Do you sense any jewel shards?" he asked, his back to her. Kagome looked up, her gaze shifting in and out of focus. She whispered, trying to locate any source of evil or pure energy. The dark splotch in her vision had to be the demon, but why wasn't she seeing things like normal! Why! "Inuyasha, I can't tell if it has any!" He grunted, lifting the sword up, both hands on the hilt, in a position to defend. "Kagome, hurry, get back to Miroku and Sango, quickly!"

Kagome brushed off her legs and struggled to get up. She rubbed her left side of her face, realizing dully that she couldn't feel it. She passed it off as a momentary injury from her previous fall and didn't see the blood that was on her fingers. She slowly stood, her knees shaking and straining to lift her up. The muscles in her legs quivered and jerked as she stood. A drop of sweat slipped down the side of her face as she reared up, when she finally came to a complete stand up, she yelled, pain jerking her legs again.

"What the hell? Kagome!" Inuyasha rushed to her side, still holding the untransformed Tetsugaiga in his hand as her gripped her arms to steady her. Warmth flared up through Kagome but was instantly repressed with a chill that had her shaking uncontrollably. Inuyasha clutched her, worry flitting over his features as he watched a dull purple throb of light flash in Kagome's eyes. His hands tightened on her and he dropped Tetsugaiga to grab hold of her more tightly. He had to fight the urge to shake her until her eyes returned to normal, but he wasn't given that chance.

'Look out!' a voice cried out in Kagome's mind. Her eyes, unfocused cast a furtive glance over Inuyasha's shoulder. She gasped, grabbing Inuyasha's chest, her hands fisting in the cloth there as she saw a tentacle veer out and whip across Inuyasha's back, viscously sending him crashing against her, smashing her arms between they're chests. Blood splurted from his mouth and into the air, and Kagome screamed his name in horror. The landed with a thud onto the ground, Inuyasha's black hair sliding over them like a curtain, his head bouncing off of her chest as he slid lower down her body with the continued bounce from the fall.

Kagome felt Inuyasha's blood trickle down and over her stomached. She mentally screamed, noticing the position they were in. Cringing. Inuyasha struggled to pull himself up. She clutched his shoulders desperately, mentally commanding him to get up faster. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but found that she couldn't move her face. Fear slashed down her spine like Lightning and lit her eyes with fright. Inuyasha, whose eyes were slowly opening, bulged when he saw that Kagome's face was paralyzed. The fear in his eyes had his arm weakly reaching forward to touch her face. He saw the small slash mark glowing, and he clenched his fist in alarm.

'She doesn't have any expression at all!'

"Kagome..." Inuyasha gritted out. A roar behind him had him lifting himself off the ground to face the demon. He could tell that he was wounded. It had been sometime since he had felt pain quite like this and considering they had not been in a battle for a week, he was feeling pretty rusty. But nothing could quelch the righteous anger that had him snarling.

Cracking his knuckles he stepped forward menacingly, "You hurt _Kagome!" _The demon stopped and turned it's head to the side as if to ask, "what of it?" It only fueled the hanyou's anger even more.

"You will DIE!" Inuyasha raged, pulling his sheath from the string at his waist he mentally called to it. Across the field, the Tetsugaiga lay on it's side. When it heard the call from it's master it pulsed once, and floated in the air. It zoomed towards him, blade first. Inuyasha ran forward, he was closing in on the demon, who sat stupefied. He reached out his arm and as the blade ran through his hands, but not cutting him, and caught hold of the handle. As soon as his hand had a firm grasp on the blade, he stopped, bracing his feet against the ground and leaping into the air. He swung upwards, the blade still untransformed as it meant flesh and bone and pealed through the demon like a hot knife through butter, a spray of blood reaching up after him.

Kagome could not move. Her whole body was locked, a numbness seeping deep into her bones freezing her to the spot. Her arms were still poised in the air, her fingers curled as they had been when they were clutching Inuyasha's shirt. Her knees were still bent and turned weakly into each other as they had fallen in Inuyasha's absence. Her back was ridged, she couldn't move at all.

"My body," she thought frightened, "I'm completely paralyzed!..."

Her eyes swiveled in her sockets, she caught a glimpse of Inuyasha as he jumped high, bringing the untransformed Tetsugaiga up through the monsters disgusting flesh. "Inuyasha!" her mind screamed, as he brought the blade up to the point of his head, where a hideous mouth gaped, the teeth oozing goo. From behind inuyasha a slimy tentacle reared up. He turned, as it sliced across his arm, burning the flesh, causing him to drop Tetsugaiga. He fell to the ground, clutching his arm.

He grunted, reaching for the sword again. Anger still consumed him, she could see that his resolve had not been dimmed. She watched his brow furrow in concentration. He ran forward, his sword trailing behind him, completely prepared to swing up and to the side to slice off anything that came his way. Sure enough, a tentacle swerved out and into his path, and he brought the sword up, a sound of flesh splitting filled the air as green/black blood spewed from the stump and splattered the ground where he stepped. She watched, vainly trying to keep her eyes from blurring as Inuyasha ran forward again, almost like in slow motion, and severed another limb from the creature.

He battled with more limbs. With each fresh wave of carnage and showering blood, Inuyasha's movements became more slurred and easier to anticipate. His blade, covered in the thick blood that resembled java, was hardly cutting with easy precision now. He finally got close enough to jump onto its back. He leapt up, bringing the Tetsugaiga down into the monsters tentacle head. He screamed, a shower of poisonous gas erupting from its head where the Tetsugaiga was piercing. Inuyasha grunted, the power of his sword protecting him from the poisonous vapors, and pulled the blade across the head, blood spraying up and into the sky like a waterfall. One of the few remaining tentacles reached up, and grabbing Inuyasha around the stomach, squeezing, threw him up and away from the creature.

He flew through the air weightlessly, his human body taxed to the breaking point. He reached up, his fingers vainly searching for the Tetsugaiga. It was just out of his grasp. He spun in the air, watching it fly away from him, and closed his eyes The quick sound of something whirring past his ear gave him a chill that was partially relief while the other was almost an animalistic rage. 'I WANT TO SLAUGHTER IT!'

Kagome watched as Sango's massive Boomerang sliced the Youkai directly in half, the head flopping over onto the ground, its blood seeping out across the ground. As it met grass and stone, the ground bubbled and hissed, burning away and dieing. Sango reached a hand up and caught the boomerang as it whirled back to her. She was holding the boomerang, her stature that of someone who was prepared for anything, especially to strike again.

Kagome looked to Inuyasha, her eyes tearing slightly when she saw Miroku run forward from the trees, a bright red handprint still evident on his face, his arms outstretched as if to catch Inuyasha. He crashed into Miroku, who ended up on his back. He had simply provided a lump landing. He cried out, "oof," and Sango landed on the ground to lift them both up from the ground. Inuyasha rocked back onto his heels, staggering, his hand coming up to sweep over his eyes. It came away bloody.

The Tetsugaiga landed with a metallic sheen a few yards from Kagome. She looked over, prepared to reach over and grasp it with her hand. She tried to move, but found that she was still frozen in place. She watched helplessly as Miroku brushed himself off, and Sango wiped the black blood from her boomerang. And with horror she saw the pieces of the demon startin to reform. She tried to speak, tried to move, tried to warn them that the demon was regenerating, but she couldn't do anything but watch helplessly.

'They don't see it! Look at the demon! Inuyasha, Miorku, Sango, LOOK OUT!' she screamed mentally. 'get up, look around, get away! HURRY!' Tears stung her eyes, but she could barely feel them.

She felt something inside her rising to the surface. A wave was cresting over her and she fought violently against it, this time, she was aware of the presence of something more from within herself. She mentally gasped, her heart racing with the gentle pull of each of the tentacles that were reshaping and reforming. 'Oh no, what is happening to me!'

Inuyasha felt the middle of his back searing, a deep throb that almost had him falling to his knees in agony. The demon he had just fought had to have some sort of poisonous vapors, because the flesh on his arm was bubbling sickly. He closed his eyes, his hand raking over his face as he tried to clear his mind which was fogged with pain. He could taste the nearness of the sunrise, and could almost feel the change when his Youkai instincts were returned to him.

'Good, once my normal form has returned, I will be able to heal faster...' silently he knew that this would be a likely three day recovery. But he could make it a day and be moving the next if he really tried.

Miroku dusted off his robes. As much as he liked the 'dirty' way of doing things... well, whatever. He opened his eyes and reached down to help Inuyasha up. His hand froze in mid air as the sight of Inuyasha ran through his mind.

Sango gasped, and put her hands to her mouth, horror evident in her eyes. Inuyasha vainly tried to pick himself up, but fell, with a splatter into his own blood again. His shirt made a sickening squelching noise and Inuyasha grunted, his vision blurry. Miroku came back to reality and reached down to help hoist him to his feet. Sango grabbed his other arm, and with a grunt, the two lifted him up onto his wobbly legs.

Inuyasha wasn't certain was worse: not being able to wipe away the blood that was trailing down the ridges of his stomach, steadily getting closer to someplace that would be harder to wipe at without notice, or being helped by two people and being seen in such a poor state. He decided that he would just have to deal with both, since he couldn't smooth away either of the delimmas. Even still, his back was covered with his blood. The haori there was still intact, but the flesh underneath was raw and ripped. The poisonous spines that should have been inbedded in his flesh had been repelled by his robe. He was lucky that he hadn't been stabbed, or he would have been dead.

Inuyasha looked around, so used to his demon instincts that he actually tried sniffing the air. The air was so filled with blood, that he would almost pass out. The smell of the demon was overpowering, even now. But even without smelling he would find what he was looking for. Somehow he always had.

'Kagome.' His entire body stiffened, his gaze falling on her frozen figure. She was laying on her back, which was slightly arched, her knees resting against each other, her arms in the air poised as if to reach up and cup the stars in her hand. But what frightened him the most were her eyes... They were wide and frightened, true, but there was unmistakable glow of purple there, only this time, it was her entire eye that glowed.

**'What the hell is happening to MY Kagome?'**

Jerking free of Miroku and Sango, Inuyasha leapt across the ground calling her name loudly, a slight hitch of confusion/fear edging through his voice. Despite his injuries, he flitted towards her with almost cat-like finesse, and didn't fall or lose his balance.

Kagome watched as the sun began to rise above the forest tops to the east, sliding directly behind Inuyasha. His entire figure was bathed in light, the ribbons of darkness spiraling off of him in gigantic waves to reveal the Hanyou Inuyasha that existed normally. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, as she saw more clearly the dark red splotches on his red haori.

He fell to her side. He was already starting to look better. Blood was pooling around his sides, but his eyes looked clearer, more amber than was normal after a night like this. Kagome tried to shut her eyes, but couldn't block out his image. She tuned out his voice instead. Tears spilled out from the corners of her eyes and slipped down her cheeks. Her lip trembled as she cried out to him mentally, unable to move at all now.

'Oh, Inuyasha!'

Kagome tried to open her mouth or at least to move at all just so she could grab him, to make sure he was real, to warn him that danger was behind him. But she couldn't open her mouth, her body was not obeying her, and oh, how she longed to say sorry.

'Inuyasha! Look behind you! Why can't I say anything! Why can't I help you!'

Kagome could see Inuyasha. He was speaking, or yelling, judging by the way his face looked. He had a lost look in his eyes, and a thin trail of blood slipped down the side of his face even as he called out to her. Then the same feeling came over her. A withdraw of self. She was fighting it... and she was losing. As her eyes carressed his features, she felt her resolve waning. An unbearable heat was over her. It burned away her flesh and ate away at the bones underneath her skin. Her energy was sucked from her so fast that she was left reeling.

Her eyes bulged, something inside of her snapping like a twig and unleashing what for so long had lain subtly subdued. It swept over her and the heat she felt disappeared almost instantly replaced by something else.

Inuyasha gasped, as did Miroku and Sango, who had slowly crept up behind the two. Kagome's eyes were unfocused yet still on Inuyasha. Suddenly a wind seemed to sweep out around her and seemed to give her a sense of floating. Inuyasha could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. As he watched, the wind that seemed to only affect her lifted her hair to flutter on it's gentle hands. What alarmed him the most was-

'Her eyes! It's like all those other times! Her eyes are shining purple, like...' The thought died in his mind, replaced by the burning need to jerk her back to him. He couldn't tell if it was the burning need for physical contact or if he simply didn't like the way she was looking at him, as if he wasn't even there?

It could have been both.

He reached out to grab her. Didn't physical contact help? Letting someone know that they exist, that you exist, didn't that HELP! He wasn't sure but he would be damned if she didn't know that he was there. His hands barely closed around her fore arms before they were shocked away from her.

Kagome watched the shock flit over his features. His alarm was so apparent, the look in his eyes were anger, but at whom? She saw the blood that pooled around him, from under his clothing, he was bleeding, and she couldn't help it. Guilt came to her. It overwhelmed her will to fight for herself and she let go of the rope she had been using to hold her control to herself.

'I can't move to save you, I can't stop it!'

"What the hell?" Inuyasha cried. Kagome's body pulsed once, twice, three times with a strange purple light. It sent shivers down the backs of each person in that clearing. Inuyasha realized instantly that it was the same type of energy that she used in her magic arrows, only this was different, and much more powerful.

'I can't save you!'

He yelped as a fierce wind suddenly blew the hair on his head up and into the air, his beaded rosary floating easily in the wind around his neck. Kagome's body rose from the ground with another energy pulse until it rose above Inuyasha's face.

Kagome pulsed again, the strange light was haunting and eerie and all around creepy. But it didn't stop there. Inuyasha felt the center of the enormous heat surge form behind him. He turned in time to see the demon, almost completely whole again, burst into nothing, seemingly purified. The heat disappeared as the purifying energy shot out to the different parts and pieces of the monster that might have been able to regenerate. As the purifying energy centered on the demon and it's contents, Kagome's eyes slid shut, her mind satisfied that the danger had been erased, and hid her mind from even herself.

Miroku ran up to Inuyasha, Sango in close pursuit, and Inuyasha turned to them and all but screamed, "Miroku, what the hell is happening to Kagome!" He backed away slowly, an unseen barrier forcing him to step away. He felt an extreme heat before he backed away again, the purifying energy was too close for comfort. He turned to Kagome; her arms were waving in an almost inflexible way at her sides.

"I don't know!" Miroku cried, shading his eyes from the tremendous light that had suddenly filled the field, and his arm went around Sango, who was also shading her eyes from the light, to keep her from flying away. "Even in all my holy wisdom I could not foresee this happening! I, a monk, should have known that something wasn't right!" He looked down at Sango, who was watching his hand while simultaneously holding hers up, prepared to slap.

'Even Miroku doesn't know?'

Inuyasha stopped for a second, turning to stare at Miroku. He considered asking again. Thought better of it, and turned to face Kagome. From behind him Miroku made a face at his ill aimed joke.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, reaching out a clawed hand towards her. His claws came in contact with some sort of barrier and his hand, feeling an intense heat, jerked away. Wild energy arced from the contact point as he slammed his claws into the barrier angrily. Arc-like cuts slashed through his hand and he was thrown back away from Kagome with a cry.

Her body shook, and pulsed again with an even brighter light. Inuyasha was favoring his hand, confused and completely bewildered on how to battle whatever had come over Kagome. He could remember a time when something similar had happened to her.

_A shield, dark with angry energy that covered Kagome, who was lying in a tub of herbal spices. An ogress's concoction that would suck the soul from her body and transfer it into the body of a golem. The shield..._

'Wait! That was a spirit shield! And so is this one! But it isn't Kagome's spirit that has put up the barrier! It can't be hers! She-'

"Inuyasha, look!" Miroku yelled over the fierce wind, running up to grab Inuyasha by the shoulder. He turned, stared and watched in mortification as Kagome's body pulsed again, this time it was even brighter then before. The pure energy heated the air, and her clothes burst from her body and disappeared into thin air like they had been incinerated. Her energy spiked, and her purifying powers came to life in a spiraling flame, leaving only the Shikon no Tama on its simple chain between her bare breasts.

Inuyasha turned the sudden absence of weight on his left shoulder left him suspicious that Miroku had been blown back by the winds. He turned, realizing that his hand had dropped from his shoulder in a calm and very cool hentai way as he stared at Kagome's naked form. Inuyasha;s eye twitched, and with a loud THONK, his fist slammed into the back of the monk's head. At the same time a fist that was aimed for the stomach collided. The monk fell to the ground twitching, while Sango held her Katana up, ready to slice off his head, heedless of the wind and how it could blow her off her feet.

"You damn dirty Monk! You're not supposed to be gawking! We have to do something," Sango screamed as Inuyasha heaved him off of his feet. Miroku gripped the two of them like death was upon him. He looked up, seeing over the two of they're shoulders. Something had happened. Inuyasha turned, his grip on Miroku loosening, and he saw Kagome's body being dragged, her back arching, with the upward motion of the Shikon no Tama fragments. He gasped, and let go of Miroku, forgetting him entirely and running forward.

Sango vainly planted her feet, but was blown back by the shockwave of heat. She screamed, the heat searing her back, and smashed into Miroku. He choked and wrapped his arm around her as they skidded backwards along the ground across the field. With a cry he stuck the edge of his staff into the ground, Sango slipped, sliding down his body to his feet where she clung for dear life, the edge of his robes fisted in her hands. Miroku pulled himself upwards towards the staff and succeeded in anchoring his arm with the Wind tunnel around the staff. He reached back with his other hand to grasp Sango's hand to pull her up. With a grunt of effort she reached up with one hand, and the sudden weight on his robe made it slide indecently off of his shoulder.

"Why Sango," he yelled, "couldn't you pick any other time to try and undress me?" Sango's eyes burned bright red and her eye twitched. Her expression changed from pure effort to the strength of the enraged. She, using his robes, climbed up to hook her hands on his shoulders, her nails bighting into his flesh.

Inuyasha bolted forward, and watched as the Shikon no Tama, which had a mind of its own, flashed brightly; casting Kagome's body into eerie light, and a huge surge of heat struck him. He lifted his arms, The Robe of the Fire rat shielding him from a serious burn, and flinched. He growled, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he watched Kagome's body floating limply in the air, moving in a wind conquered by her own unknown power.

'Where could this power of suddenly come from? Is this connected to the changes that have been happening to her? It has to be!'

"Inuyasha!" He turned, and saw Miroku and an angry Sango who looked like she could have scared the grim reaper if he even twitched wrong. "Inuyasha you must break the barrier!" He blinked, and yelled back at him, "You honestly think that the red Tetsugaiga will be able to break this barrier?... Why you..." He turned towards Kagome, and something clicked. He reached his hand to his belt, and felt for Tetsugaiga's sheath.

He clenched his jaw, a look of determination crossing over his features. He braced his feet and pulled the sheath from his belt. Closing his eyes, he held out the sheath horizontally in the air, focusing his mind on Tetsugaiga. Miroku and Sango watched in awe as the young man stood before them, the very image of a hero, and called to out to his great sword.

A whistling sound filled the clearing; it was heard over the energized wind. From the other side of the clearing Tetsugaiga flew, blade first towards its owner. Inuyasha turned to his side, his arm reaching up to grab Tetsugaiga and sheath it swiftly. He pulled it back out instantly, bright yellow energy flaring up from the contact point of the sheath's end and the actual sword. He swung it in one wind arc and then gripped it with both hands.

Miroku gasped, fully aware of what it was that Inuyasha planned to do to "break the barrier." 'He plans to use Kaze no Kizu!'

Inuyasha lifted his sword, prepared to swing his sword and use Tetsugaiga's Kaze no Kizu. However, a slip of apprehension slithered in his conscious. He stopped midway and actually smelled the air. Inuyasha had had the ability to use Kaze no Kizu at his very whim since his battle with (OH GOD HOW DO I SPELL THAT!) Rykotsu. Now, he actually focused on finding the scar of the wind himself. He found it almost instantly, but something about it had him stepping forward and lowering his sword in shock.

'What the hell!' Since when was Kagome a youkaii and since when could she exude demonic waves like what he was seeing? He turned towards Miroku and grunted, seeing that he was unable to have a conversation on demonic aura's and humans. Instead he opened his eyes and ran forward, sword risen above his head high.

'I can't use the Kaza no Kizu!' A nostalgic sense swept over him, 'I'll have to use the Red Tetsugaiga...' He wondered distantly if this would be the only time he ever brought his sword up to come head to head with Kagome. If given the decision: Life or death, what would he do?

And as he ran forward he realized exactly what his choice was. He couldn't care less that her purifying powers could "purify" him to nothing. Nor did he really care that she was naked and would most likely sit him for all his trouble. No, he thought deeply about that choice: Would he fight her if she raised her bow to strike him, like Kikyo had all those years before? Or would he rip her apart with his claws, drawing his Tetsugaiga to defend himself?

No...

'Kagome would never raise her powers against me, I know it! I would never have to worry about that ever happening!' and as he realized this, he had no fears, and ran forward, leaping up into the morning sky that was littered with dark clouds and did the only thing that he thought could work-

"Kagome!" He focused hard, the blade of the Tetsugaiaga turning bloodred, it's barrier breaking power forming in the blade.

Bringing his Tetsugaiga down against the barrier, Inuyasha felt a surge of heat sear his hands that gripped his sword as the jewel pulsed again. Hot air blew his hair up above his head burning his face and eyes. But to his surprise, Tetsugaiga was not being forced back, but instead was very slowly pealing away the part of the barrier that it was pressed to. Inuyasha wondered how much hotter it was going to get.

From outside of the barrier he could see her features alight with the pure glow of the jewel. Something inside him fluttered, and he looked down upon her face, and-

'Wait? What the he-'

The field exploded. Kagome's body appeared to be on fire, the barrier around her thrusting forward angrily, throwing Inuyasha back with a spray of blood from his arms. He flew back and skidded on the grass, blood smearing, and landed on the ground, completly still. Sango looked up in time to see his body flop onto the ground. She cried out, worry filling her eyes, she looked over at Kagome. Miroku gasped as well, and he held her tighter, "What can we do?"

As they looked on, Tetsugaiga pulsed once, and seemed to glow as the barrier grew stronger and the winds picked up. It was imbedded in the barrier, untransformed. (NOTE TO Munchy: Should it be transformed, or untransformed? I'm not certain... It always switches back doesn't it? Delete this after you change it or make your descision). Above the clouds spun in a swirl and the sky filled with dark energy. Clouds that looked like devils circled around the barrier and cast darkness over the field. Sango wrapped her arms around Miroku's neck and prayed.

Distantly Kagome was aware of a voice. She tried to open her eyes but found she lacked the energy to do so. All forms of strength had left her and she just remained in her world of dark, her eyes closed.

'Who? Who is... calling to me..?'

Completely alone. She could tell she was completely alone, so was she crazy? Why was she alone in the first place? Where was she and how did she get to be here without her friends?

'That's right, I can't go anywhere without my friends supporting me.'

Then again, the voice. It was like a whisper and she tried to lean forward to hear it. But she couldn't move. Couldn't find the strength to even listen. She was so tired and hurt. She felt like she had been used, brutaly.

And still the voice taunted her. It spoke in illegible words, persuading her, pushing at her. It peeled through her barriers. Nothing would shut it up!

She just wanted to sleep, to lay back and close her eyes. To fade away into this dark place she had been brought to.

'Why am I here?'

Something tried to answer her, something tried to tell her the SOMETHING. It was important and this time she used all her energy to open her eyes.

She was suspended in what looked like- nothing at all. She lifted her hand and stared at her fingers watched them bend with a type of slurred motion. She felt heavy, like she had just awoken from a deep sleep. A pleasant glow within her chest. It was strange. She felt, full, even if it was artificail.

'Wait, why would what I feel, be considered, artificail?'

She floated around. She felt cold now, so cold that she clutched her knees to her bare chest to try to hold what little body heat she had to her.

'I'm naked... and... I'm so... painfully alone.'

She felt something in the back of her head, and something became aware, like a knife that sliced through water. Her eyes bulged and she looked around frightened.

'Inuyasha? Miroku? Sango?' a slight pitch of fear sliding easily into her voice.

She turned around, she looked in ever direction but all she saw was the black emptiness. And then it suddenly clicked. Memory flashed before eyes like she was watching a movie from the sidelines.

'I remember! We were in the middle of a battle! I shot an arrow at the demon, and it stopped it from swallowing Inuyasha! That's right, and the demon shot something at me! But what was it?' she gasped, a cold feeling rushing inside of her. Her breath, if it could be called breath, was rushed from her along with the knowledge she had just gotten, 'Why! Why am I suddenly forgetting everything!'

And then the understanding was gone, and she looked around numbly feeling like something had been taken from her.

She buried her face into her arms, her eyes watered. 'I... I want to see Inuyasha!'

She suddenly stopped moving. She was sitting now, still in the black void, yet something was different. She felt as if the air had changed. She stood, tested her ground, and saw something appear. She reached out into the shadows and withdrew a sword from the blackness she was shrouded in. She held it in her hands, admired the blade the chipped and coarse blade. She realized that Inuyasha was probably fighting the demon still.

'He probably needs his sword to fight that poisonous demon... I should...'

She looked down at the blade and felt it pulse once in her hands. Heat spread through her and she gasped. Everything became clear suddenly and tears welled in her eyes and slithered down her cheeks. One tear trailed down her cheek until it came to a small grove that was in her left cheek. She screamed again, the pain very real, and her need very real. She wasn't where she was supposed to be.

'And where ARE you supposed to be?' the voice whispered, like it was right next to her.

Kagome looked down at the blade in front of her. She knew where she wanted to be...

'By Inuyasha's side!' she yelled back at the voice, as if it was a person standing in front of her. But she felt threatened, and she screamed, the danger of one simple voice very real to her. She looked back at Tetsugaiga, ignoring the voice as it whispered to for her to stay... She closed her eyes and yelled over the noise that seemed to fill the empty blackness the only thing that she wanted right then-

'Tetsugaiga, take me to back to-!' her fingers closed around the blade. It cut into her hands and let them bleed as she started to fade away.

She screamed out a name.

Inuyasha stood slowly, the wind was so fierce now that it nearly blew his beaten and batter body off it's feet. He clutched his right arm with his fairly unharmed arm to his side. Blood pooled around his bare feet and dripped off of his claws. He as very near that final brink. He was riding on the edge of delirium. But he would not let go of himself. He couldn't because he knew that Kagome needed him. He knew it deep in his heart, so he stepped forward, prepared to take the weight of the world on his shoulders if he needed to.

He could see her, his vision blurry, as she floated horizontally in the air. She looked like a goddess. She was completely in the nude, except for the jewel shard that was on the chain around her neck. Her hair danced on a teasing wind that didn't seem to affect the jewel which looked like it had been placed in the air and was not moving at all, simply glowing its eerie light. And when had everything changed? Hadn't it just been dawn? Where was the sun? And if it was night, then who stole the stars?

He stepped closer, watching hair whip and snake around her head in a haphazard way.

"Kagome..."

He stepped closer still, blood trailing from him like a small stream.

"Kagome...?"

He was not entirely with it. He was like a drunken man. But his mind knew only one thing and his heart realized it was the truth and propelled his weak body forward so he could save her. Save the one thing that had held him back all these years.

His foot dragged along the ground, the temperature getting warmer and warmer as he came closer to her pure energy.

'If I... touch the barrier again... I will die... ..'

"Inuyasha!" Sango cried her voice hoarse from fright. Miroku looked up, following Sango's gaze to where Inuyasha, looking like a zombie, staggered. Blood flowed freely down his arm, and Miroku felt like the coppery smell could surely make him pass out. "Inuyasha! What do you think you are doing, you want to _die?" _

'But as long as...'

He lifted another clawed foot forward and placed it against the ground. He was standing directly in front of the barrier; he could feel it pressing against him angrily, heat whipping over him like electric waves. His right arm was practically useless and it hung down against his bloodstained Haori. He lifted his face to see Kagome, memorizing the lines of her face.

'As long as...'

He reached his left hand up and grabbed the handle to the Tetsugaiga--

One more furious pulse filled the clearing, once more the winds whipped at Miroku and Sango. Kagome's eye's bulged open. She looked almost exactly like the day her soul had been sucked from her body and had succeeded in drawing her soul back into her own body right before Inuyasha was going to be slain by Kikyo. Her brown eyes were dazed, her arms flung out behind her as she arched, pushing her chest upwards, her mouth open wide in a silent scream of pain as her essence was brought forth from beneath the aura that had taken possession of Kagome's.

"INUYASHAAAA!"

It sounded like a siren went off. The barrier around Kagome shattered forming a ball of light that blew outwards across the field. It pushed Inuyasha off his feet again, this time he clutched Tetsugaiga with all his strength and pulled it free suddenly as the force holding it instantly disapeared. A fierce wind exploded. Miroku gasped and shielded his eyes; Sango gripped his back and cried out in pain as the wind beat against her sore back.

Inuyasha crashed into the ground in time to see the flickering flames surrounding her body fade away as she floated gently to the ground looking healthy and breathing steadily.

'...is...alive...' Inuyasha thought.

As the barrier swept up and outwards, so did the clouds that had been drawn to the clearing. They swirled away and across the plains and through the dark forest, revealing a gentle looking sky and a warm sun. Kagome's body slowly floated to the ground. Her hair settled against her shoulders as she slowly fluttered to the ground. The Shikon no Tama nestled between her breasts and she appeared to be simply sleeping.

Inuyasha, was standing, using Tetsugaiga as a crutch, staggered to Kagome. His clothing was hanging from him, soaked through with blood. He studied her face, the dark line that had crossed her face where she had been hit by some type of poisonous needle. He couldn't stop his feet from shuffling. He fell forward onto his knees, his vision blurred and he lost consciousness, his hand reaching out to cup her cheek with his blood covered hand, and landed partially on top of Kagome, his arm stretched over her chest to her shoulder.

'I'm so glad...'

Miroku lifted his head to see if everything was over. The sun was out, it was morning, and the birds began to chirp. He surveyed the area, and saw the dark head of Kagome lying among a grass with Inuyasha lying in a small pool of blood, his skin pale and not as vibrant as that of Kagome whom he seemed to be sprawled on.

He felt something moving inside him as he felt the awakening... rather... the awareness of Kagome's aura. He gasped, standing up and reaching to pull out his staff from the ground. It was good that he had placed it before them, it's holy aura gaurding them from the aura of whatever had taken over Kagome. Without it... he looked at Sango who had passed out during the last blast of light. 'Without it...'

Kagome slowly opened her eyes. Her body felt like she had just awoken from a pleasant nap. She was warm and could feel the sun against her flesh. Her mind felt heavy with dreams that she just couldn't remember. She breathed in deeply and let out a blissful sigh, her eye's fluttering closed in pure bliss.

Miroku was shocked when he heard Kagome sigh Inuyasha's name. It sounded blissful, and natural. He blinked, uncertain of what action to take. He was almost frightened of approaching her. He could no sooner step forward to remove her from the sight that she would most likely see once she got some realization back into her then he could have fixed the drooping shoulder of his robes that Sango had pulled down.

So he simply stared.

Kagome reached down, stretching and her arms above her head. She felt pressure on her chest and instantly could smell blood in the air.

'This whole place reeks of shed blood!'

Kagome sat up quickly, sending the still slick-with-blood Inuyasha sliding down her chest and over her stomach to lay in her lap. She gasped, a deep blush rising to her face, which was instantly wiped away as she saw his face dripping blood and the grass around her stained with his blood. She choked, her hands fisting at her mouth in horror at the sight of so much blood. She grabbed onto his shoulders, her arms unbelievably strong and pulled him into her lap, his body limp and cold like death. She clutched his head to her heart and wept, rocking him in her lap.

_'INUYASHA!'

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**End of Chapter Author Commentary:**

Chapter Two History:

Started: 4/1/04

Finished: 6/22/04

Revised: 7/20/04

Revised: 7/22/04

-Luky


	4. Lost Memories of A Fallen Warrior

_This chapter will be a very exciting chapter indeed. Try not to get too lost within the plot- but be mindful; there is trickery present and a despair more keen then what we have seen, even more then between Kikyo and Inuyasha, or Inuyasha and Kagome... _

_Enjoy._

_-Luky_

**Chapter Four**

Lost Memories of a Fallen Warrior

...It was cold.

Bitter cold.

It was the kind of cold that drenched the body and the mind and left nothing of its victim except for a hollow shell that no warmth could penetrate. Ice had formed around the world, and Kagome was encased in it. She should have been shivering, her knees should have been jerking every other way, but the were unable to react to the harsh conditions. That should have been the first clue that she was dreaming. But for some reason, it didn't even cross her mind.

The wind hissed and blew dirt and sand over a wasteland of blood that was as far as the eye could see. That same fine mist carried with it the stink of a bloody battlefield long since saturated with reek of rotting flesh and liquefied intestines. It teased against the severed limbs of the demon's that were scattered everywhere and as they shifted it gave them a sense of movement, as if the field filled with dead things was going to spring back to life. Yet life had left they're forms and the wind seemed to only play on the sick and twisted desire of renewed life for those who had fallen.

At the edge of the battlefield, at the point where the body parts were sparsely gathered, a woman stood. Directly next to her feet was the disembodied hand of a demon whose fingers still twitched towards her, as if to grapple with her simple sandals that were bloodied. The discolored stump had long since been drained of fluid, having been severed at some point in the start of the battle, was shriveled. Its fingers twitched once... twice...

It was ignored.

Dark black hair spilled out from underneath a dark brown cloak in thick clumps. The wind whipped the hair up and into the woman's face, the stray hairs from her hood fluttering and catching at the dried blood on her face. They stuck to her lips, which shone with bright red, as if she had knelt to sip the fine nectar that she herself had spilled. Her hair stuck against her lips, and was torn free by the breeze.

She did not move.

A warrior's bamboo breast-guard hung limply by one ring that was strapped to her shoulder guard. It swung like a broken hinge, its splintered coverage doing nothing for protection now. Black blood as dark as midnight was splattered over her figure, both dry and wet. Her face was hidden under a mass of sweat covered bangs, but even as she stood, silent and still, a drop of blood slid down her cheek. It could have been a tear of blood. It probably was... Either way, Kagome wasn't certain which it was, only that the slow slide made her itch to reach up and wipe it away. But the warrior seemed that she didn't want to move. The tension inside of her had mounted to an almost unbearable streak. Was there something in her heart, other then the calm, cool and calculating thought process of a warrior?

Maybe.

She stood tall, though her pose alone was not enough to suppress the obviousness that she was on the verge of collapse. It was ram rod straight, her shoulders raised, her arms taunt at her sides, but in her figure was something of fatigue... a wariness that Kagome couldn't place...The sleeve covering her right arm was shredded up to the elbow and from underneath the tattered cloth an arm hung uselessly, a deep diagonal groove stretched from her elbow to her wrist. It seeped blood that slid down the arm in rivers to drip unceremoniously onto the ground. Each drop made a noise that seemed deafening to Kagome's ears. The steady sound made Kagome want to gag, but as she tried fetidly to gain control of her arm, to flex the muscle that had been shredded which had gone slack and unresponsive, another wave of blood seeped from the wound.

The warrior was standing off on the sideline of the field. Her whole body tensed and as she stepped forward, her foot landed with a sickening splatter in a rotting pile of cerebral cords that had been ripped from the cranium of a luckless demon to her right. It gushed over her dirty feet and sprayed her bloodied cloak with grayish yellow fluid. She disregarded it as if it had not happened.

Kagome reined back a gag. The woman kept on going. She seemed to pay no heed to the sound of her feet as they crushed things. She seemed to be dazed, yet she still walked with a purpose, stinted as it may be. She was unfazed by the gush of liquids and the squelch of demon fluid. Kagome was beginning to wonder if she were a woman at all, or simply a mindless fighter. She considered the latter.

The woman slowly raised her face, and even then only slightly, to regard something in the center of the field. It looked like a man, but Kagome couldn't be sure. He was hunched, covered in cloth of every shade of brown, minus the purple scarf that tied the cloak at his neck. It was flung behind him/it, and waved like a banner. Kagome could see that it too was covered in blood. Everything else on it was surprisingly clean.

But as the woman's/Kagome's gaze came upon the creature, something flickered in her/Kagome's chest. Kagome could have sworn she felt a disbelief and sorrow well up inside of herself. It shattered through her and left her breathless. She looked up at the woman/warrior before her, startled. What was that feeling?! It felt so familiar to Kagome, and the desperation that echoed throughout her heart made Kagome gasp and press ther hand against her heart.

A black fog crept at its feet. They stepped forward as one. Kagome had never before had a dream like this... At one moment, she was looking at the woman/warrior from a different spot on the field, and then other times, she was the woman! All the time she was able to feel exactly what the woman/warrior felt, see what she was able to see, hear what she was able to hear. She had had very few dreams where she was living as the same person she was dreaming about. This was definitely weird.

All of that went through her mind as she was once again placed in the body of the woman/warrior. She saw through eyes, HER eyes, and the thing before her. She reached behind her, hesitating. The demon jerked, but did not reveal what was underneath its shroud. Kagome felt they're heart squeeze again as her uninjured hand reached to her hip to pull the jewel encrusted sword from it's simple sheath. They're resolving was strengthening as the familiarity of battle came before them. This was what she was. She had her rules, her guidelines. She would slay this demon now, and fulfill her duty!

"There is only one more demon left to slay..." she said, her voice flat and unemotional, the sword raised before her prepared for battle. Kagome felt herself say it, her voice so strange, and watched the scene before her explode.

Her voice, like a flower petal in a rough storm, flew into the air and carried to the ends of the earth. It swept past the thing in the middle of the field. For a moment, the warrior stopped and let her hand relax, but as soon as her hand relaxed, the demon pieces around her flew up and struck the man. She felt them slice through her in their efforts to get to the thing there in the middle of the field.

She dropped her sword, lifting her arm and crying out with the effort to lift the other, to cast a barrier around herself. It flickered, as one hand came up, and then shattered. She gasped loudly as portion of an arm crashed into her injured arm, flying towards the thing in the field. She grabbed it, forcing it against her side and felt her knees buckle beneath her.

Kagome was again looking from the sidelines. The transition from her view and her OWN view was swift and she barely noticed it. Even still...

She watched as the demon chunks overwhelmed him. They flew into his flesh splattering goo everywhere, which was eventually carried back towards him and absorbed through his clothing to lengthen his body and widen his arms. He shuddered and his mouth opened in pain and let out a demonic howl as whatever was left of his humanity fled him. The warrior could tell exactly when the soul was overcome and when the demons conscious took control. It turned to the warrior and it threw out what looked like branches of wood that grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides.

Kagome knew it was a dream, but she could no sooner pull herself from the dream then she could from the clutches of the clawed hands of the monstrous combination of man and demon. She was again, living her dream from a warrior's eyes. A pain filled her that she could not contain. She wasn't a warrior, she couldn't take this PAIN.

And nor could the warrior/woman.

As she felt the consciousness of the woman/warrior screaming in pain she opened her own heart and mind and through they're link, screamed out loud--

The first thing Kagome was aware of was an intense heat. As she sat up to throw the cover that had somehow found its way over her, her head spun and her vision blurred. She reached up to feel her forehead. It felt hot and clammy. She was alarmed when she felt a shudder of cold pass over her from head to foot.

'I must have fallen asleep by the fire...' she thought, shifting and looking at the indoor fire that burned brightly in the center of the room.

She rose from her makeshift bed and blinked several times to get her eyes adjusted. Careful not to lose her balance, Kagome picked up her coverlet and meticulously began to fold it. When she was finished, she placed it on the corner of her bed. She eyed her mattress wearily.

'I certainly thrashed around a lot in my sleep...' She thought, as she bent to straighten the pallet that she had borrowed from the owner of the inn they had gone to. She had to of been dreaming, since the mattress was in such a disarray that it needed straightening. She fixed it and looked around the room. Miroku was asleep against the wall on the left side of the building, his arms crossed and his staff at ready position. Sango was on the opposite side of the wall, a dagger placed not even an inch away from her sleeping form. Kagome knew from experience that she might need it.

She couldn't help but smile at the sheer fact that even in her sleep, Sango was weary of Miroku, and rightfully so!

She considered waking them. If she disappeared before they awoke, they might worry. 'Then again,' she thought, 'they know I can handle myself.' Instead she turned and walked into the other room that branched from the one she slept in. As she walked inside, her mind fuzzy from sleep, she was reminded again of how awful a battle they had been in.

'They all were in a battle... but with what?...' she thought, saddened by he sight before her.

Her eyes blurred again, but she held back as she knelt on the ground before Inuyasha's sleeping form. He was resting on her sleeping bag. He had never really looked so ill before. There were times when Kagome had feared he would die, but then there were times when he looked ill and really wasn't. This was a case when she knew he was injured... and badly.

'And... It's been two days since... the incident... and the wounds that were inflicted...' she stopped, taking a deep calming breath to clear away the tears that always came, '... What manner of demon could have done this to them? Why does everything following the arrow I shot just black out? Why?'

As she looked at him, her eyes got blurry, tears filling her vision and skewing it. She longed to touch him, assure herself that she had not killed him.

She reached out towards him. He was lying with his pants tied securely around his waist but his upper torso was bare and wrapped with bandages. Her fingers touched him, gently. She ran her hand softly over his wrappings. Blood had seeped through some of them, the dark crimson showing clearly against the white of the bandages and as she touched them, she imagined his wounds vanishing and the scars fading.

She came to her knees beside him and let her fingers dance lightly along the lines of his chest. Warmth radiated even through the bandages and assured her that he was still very much alive. She felt her cheeks warm as she let her fingers tril up his neckline to his cheek and she shuddered from cold, despite the fire that burned within her.

'I'm so weak...' she thought, 'I don't have any strength, nothing! I have no right to want Inuyasha! He needs someone who is strong, who knows themselves.' She shivered, her body burning with heat even though she felt only cold, 'If only I could just stay here with him...' and with that he felt tears burning her eyes.

Kagome stood up and stared down at his face. Butterflies fluttered lazily around in her stomach when she imagined him looking back at her, with the same feeling of love and care that she felt towards him, but she couldnt ever imagine that happening, not while she was so weak and worthless. Her feelings could never become a reality, even if Inuyasha did fall in love with her-- she could never stay with him in the Sengoku Jidai...

Tears fell from her eye as she pulled away from his aura, stepping back from his body and turning around. Her emotions were heightened because of her fever-- it must be a fever she suffered from...

'I have to go clear my head-- I have to go cool down...'

She left the room. It took all of her self control not to turn and run back to Inuyasha's limp form. She wanted to touch him, to lay her face against his chest. But she just couldn't, not after what she had done. Somehow, she just knew those wounds were caused by her own hand, and she couldnt bare it. She felt another cold shiver pass over her.

She passed Miroku and Sango, still in the same position as before and left they're room. As she stepped outside, she noticed that it was in the middle of the day. It struck her as odd that all of them would be sleeping through the day like this, instead of journeying. But considering that they hadn't come across a demon, since that time... well, they were most likely safe for the time being.

Light sprinkled over the inn she had left. Kagome wearily reached up and wiped off the thin trail of sweat that had slipped down her forehead. 'I must be really burning up... I got to leave this clearing...' She wasn't certain when it was that she had gotten sick. She could have sworn that she was perfectly fine up until right now... Now it seemed like she would blister and boil if she didn't cool down. A weakness was in her knees, along her limbs. She felt like a zombie as she slowly began to walk.

The path she was on was the one that lead back towards Kaede's Village. It was pebbly and covered with sharp rocks. If she hadn't been wearing shoes...

To her left was the shade of the forest. It was the same forest that attached to Inuyasha's forest. It too had its shadows and disadvantages.

She was sweating now, and the heat rising from the ground did everything except make her feel better. She slowed to a gentle stroll and stopped completely. She considered on what she wanted to do. After what seemed like hours of long, hard deliberation, she took off with a step into the deep forest. Instantly she felt as if the shade of the trees had replenished her. She could also feel as if this was where she was meant to go. 'Somewhere in this forest...' She stuffed the feeling down inside, not really caring about it and not really wanting to care about it.

Her foot meant cool grass. She could feel the change of temperature on the ground by her feet almost as if she had dipped them in water, which, as soon as she found some, she would do. She was bewildered though, about how she could have gotten sick. She remembered stuffing down medicine during the days that it had rained and it certainly hadn't worn off. With a dosage like she had taken, even Ebola would be repelled.

'I can't remember what happened... Everyone's actions are enough to get me worried about what really went on... I find myself wondering if I had something to do with everyone's wounds...'

_When Kagome had tried speaking with Sango, she was meant with a Sango whose stomach was constantly hungry and needed consistent replenishing. Almost the same for Miroku. If she tried to speak with him about it, he would simply give Sango a look or a few words that would have her stomping over, leaving her kitchen tools behind, and smacking him in the face. Since Kirara and Shippou were not there... She had nobody to ask what happened. Inuyasha... he was still unconscious. _

'If so, did I know what I was doing? Was it intentional, the damage I dealt???' No sooner did the thought come into her mind did she viciously denied it.

'No!' Kagome mentally screamed. As she did, a searing pain sliced from ear-to-ear. It came so fast, she was left reeling. She lost her balance momentarily, the world coming up to waver in front of her eyes. She stumble against a nearby tree and clenched her head with both hands. The pain had been so intense, that when it left her, and it left as quickly as it came, she was still sick to her stomach because of it. She whimpered and continued forward, the throb in her head fading with every step.

'God, what would I GIVE for an ASPIRIN...' She grunted as another surge of heat rippled over her body. She stopped, panting, wondering if it was really such a good idea to get far away from camp. If she got too far, they might not find her, since Inuyasha wasn't conscious. She wouldn't be able to get back to camp as quickly if she didn't have some kind of help... Medicinal or physical.

'But I think, even if I was at camp... I think I used the rest of the aspirin on Miroku and Sango...'

She continued forward. She didn't really have a destination in mind. She simply walked, if only to move and know that she was still capable of doing just that. She looked down and studied the ground as she walked. It was getting softer, the air cooler, and soon she heard the faint trickle of water. She steered herself in the direction of the noise, her mind telling her that the noise led to water. 'And water,' she thought, 'would help me cool my body down, if only that...'

She was still unsure of where she was going. With the simply the sound of water telling her where she was going... But she could hear it and it was stronger now. And it soon became so loud that she wondered if she was WALKING on it. She wondered if it was a hot spring too. She couldn't remember but she swore that she had heard somewhere that if your body temperature changed drastically in a short amount of time, it could cause permanent problems.

'I feel...' she kept walking, her feet shuffling lazily now, her limbs completely exhausted, "so weak...' her face was slightly pink. It had been drained of blood earlier, but the movement had fleshed her out. She was thinking a LITTLE clearer now.

She watched as her feet stepped onto a different colored patch of dirt. Only, it wasn't all dirt, but it was mixed with sand as well. The sound of rushing water reached her ears and ripped her from her numb state. She was moving again.

'I don't remember what happened...'

She lifted her arm to push a heavy branch out of her way. Her arm shook with the effort but she managed to step forward and into the clearing, her arm dropping to her side again.

'I don't know... anything about it; all I can remember is seeing Inuyasha and running to him...' Kagome reached up, her hand trailing along her cheek, her fingers splaying over the thin scar there. She was alarmed again, when she felt how incredibly hot she was. She broke out into an instant sweat, her eyes sweeping before her once.

Then her eyes bulged softly, as the realization of what she had found dawned on her. Somewhere inside of her... something sparked. Recognition flared through her. Kagome had never been here before, ever, yet she felt an instant connection.

Water oozed over the edge of a jagged mountain of rocks. It was almost as if someone had placed them there so that the water would drizzle exactly the way it did: sweetly down over the rocks to slip over the final edge and splash into the dark green water beneath it. A thin layer of green moss covered the rocks there. Where the water gathered at the base of the "mountain" and slithered over the final edge a tiny rock was breaking the almost sheet like flow of water. It formed into a small waterfall that was neither a crushing Niagara Falls nor a gentle river trickle.

There were trees that grew around the lake and shaded the dark green water and made it look even darker then what it was. The entire lake was covered with rocks and trees, green grass as tall as the trees it grew around. It was breathtaking, complete stunning. It was dark and looked so very, VERY deep. As she stepped closer, she found the source of the noise that had led her to the lake in the first place.

The water to the left of her cascaded down a smaller trail of rocks and sounded like the gentle call of a harp. The water played over the rocks and sang a sweet tune that could calm even the angriest of hearts. And in the middle of the lake was a rock. It curved and sloped up like the back of a chair and left enough room for maybe two people to sit on it.

It could have been a hallucination, but she could have sworn that she could see the image of a woman sitting on the rock. She had long beautiful black hair, and she was braiding it. In an instant the image was gone, replaced by something that could have served for a mermaid's post in a fairy tale. She waited for the woman to appear again but she did not see her again.

She blinked and the ground dipped and she lost her balance. She gasped and fell against a large maple tree. Her hand slowly reached up to swipe at the sweat from underneath her bangs. Her vision blurred uncontrollably. She rested her hip against the truck, using its sturdy structure to support her failing strength.

'I feel so... hot...'

The vision of paradise before her suddenly became hazy. Her head dipped as she slid down the rough bark to lay in a mass of tangled limbs at its base. Her knees were so weak; they could no longer support her weight. She was falling to the ground. She was on the ground. She was resting against the tree, sure that it would burst in flames if she stayed near it any longer.

'What is happening???' She was surprised to see when she looked down at her arms that they weren't burning. No flames leaped from her skin although it felt like there was. It had to be an internal flame. A burning underneath the skin- it couldn't be seen. But WHY? Why was it like that, and why did it BURN?

She felt a familiar sensation creep through her mind. It was a sensation of losing oneself, as if falling asleep. Her eyes burned and grew heavy. They drooped before she could even find the strength to keep them lifted. From her partially closed eyes, a ring of purple started to form. It centered on the pupil and wound its way around the edges of the iris. Her eyes quivered and shook; she had no more strength to keep them open. She let go, resolved to let what ever it was that was with her, take her.

After a moment of harsh breathing she grew silent. Her body was positioned against the tree like it was leaning on a person, her head tilted at the neck and her arms stretched out to ball her fingers in her lap. Her head rocked forward but not completely laying on her chest. From beneath her eyelids her eyes began to flicker. Then Kagome did something that she did every time she went to sleep.

She dreamed.

At the same time Kagome fell asleep, someone woke up. The first thing he did was sniff the air. He searched it for that one familiar scent, but couldn't find it. Then, eyes slowly opened and the body shifted from resting then tensing to relaxing again. When the absence of that one scent registered, the person came instantly awake.

It took no more then three seconds for Inuyasha to realize that Kagome was not in the room. Nor had she been there for about an hour. Her scent- her gentle, sweet scent- was old and even then it reeked of fever. He could help, and didn't realize, that growl that rumbled in the middle of his chest at the thought of Kagome being injured/hurt by something that he couldn't protect her from.

He should have realized exactly when she had left. While he slept, he had known she was there simply because her scent had never been farther then the next room. She was there with him, in his dreams too. He could feel her presence, if only a little. When she had left his dreams they had turned into darkness and her absence left him so empty that he had feared that warmth would never come back to him. He should have realized what that meant, interpreted it, then acted on it by waking up.

Then again, this is Inuyasha we're talking about.

He tried to sit up but found that his body just didn't want to move. His muscles were incredibly sore from lack of use. A sweat broke out over his face as his body tried vainly to rise. He felt like his entire body was lead. He could no sooner lift himself from the soft sleeping bag beneath him, then lift the world and somewhere in his mind he realized this. It didn't help that the other part of his mind was still mentally screaming for him to get up and find HER. When he DID get up, he would stretch out his muscles that were supposed to have healed, loosening them and lessening the pain.

Call it gut sense, or just male hormones.

But as he tried to lift himself again only to gag as he managed to raise his upper body on his elbows. His head spun as he flopped back onto the sleeping bag, vaguely realizing that it was Kagome's...

What was she sleeping on?' he thought, worrying that he had taken her sleeping gear.

His head spun. It was a completely new type of hurt that he wasn't used to. His ENTIRE body was sore and his BONES ached, like an old mans' would. And not only was his body hurt, but his deeply engraved, overbearing and CERTAINLY, overpowering sense of pride.

It didn't stop the vicious curse he issued in his mind.

He struggled for a bit longer before finally giving up. His body went slack as his muscles failed him and he crashed onto the sleeping bag. He was more awake now, more then he ever had been. His WOUNDS were HEALED, but why was his BODY not? He turned his head to the side, even then facing a bit of resistance.

He normally didn't lay like this: on his back, his arms at his side, open wide as if to welcome danger. He hadn't, since he was younger. But he found it oddly comforting. He sniffed at the sleeping bag beneath him, searching for any of Kagome's reassuring scent. He couldn't find any trace of her on it. All he could smell was the scent of old blood- HIS- and sweat, also his. Not one trace of Kagome was on it.

'How long have I been out of it??? This sleeping bag smells like it hasn't been cleaned in days!'

He heaved a sigh that was both mental exasperation at having to think so much and a sign of defeat. He closed his eyes. Even while they were closed, the flicker of the fire was still scene in his mind. It was strange how that happened. His sense of hearing was so good and his nose was so sensitive, that he could actually SEE with his eyes closed. It was something that he had been training for ever since he had been blinded in one eye by Sesshomaru all those years ago in his father's tomb. He had gotten his ass kicked, and he didn't want that to happen again. Especially when he was on the receiving end of that flee-bitten mongrel of a brother.

Just then, a shadow loomed over him. He opened his eyes instantly. They had a little trouble adjusting to the unaccustomed change of light, but as he blinked his image cleared. He saw after several blinks that it was Miroku who stood between him and the fire.

"Buddha has indeed blessed us with your return to consciousness, Inuyasha," he said, leaning down and holding up his two fingers to symbolize thanks/prayer.

"Save the ass kissing for later." he said, grumpily. He could feel it. The sourness was fading, how interesting. He reached his hand up and placed it agains his chest, pulling at the cloth there, he saw that the wounds on his chest had faded and could hadly be seen-- it was as if he had never been injured on his chest-- truly remarkable. He didn't think too long on it though. Miroku stood over him, his frame was enormous, and largely due to the purple robes he always wore. Inuyasha couldn't believe the similarities to that and Kagome's "Dress" from her world.

Miroku looked at him and frowned, saying "Its odd, your regenerative powers... I could have sworn the wounds on your chest this morning were still scabbing and healing..." Inuyasha scoffed and searched for something to put on but couldnt find his fire robe.

Miroku smiled as Inuyasha continued with, "What the hell happened anyway?" He didn't mean for it to sound so harsh but the frustration at not being able to move his own body had not dimmed in the least. And in truth his mind was not working in perfect harmony with his mouth. In truth, what he wanted to say was completely different. It just seemed like his mouth never wanted to follow exactly what his mind wanted to say.

Knowing almost instantly that Inuyasha hadn't meant to ask about the current situation, but of Kagome he answered, "Kagome is fine..." Inuyasha visibly relaxed, "so cool your head. Sango and I are well. WE got out with some colorful bruises and scrapes, but other than that, we were unharmed. You on the other hand..." he trailed off.

"And of my wounds?" he asked, his hand moving to his chest withou thinking. It was becoming easier to scowl. It no longer hurt to turn his head. His body felt incredibly stiff, but he knew that he would be able to get up ad begin travelling again soon.

"We thought for a bit, and decided that it would be bad to move you and Kagome- In the state that you were in... All of us are still resting and healing. Nothing can really be expected from us at this time..." He watched something flicker in Inuyasha's eyes. He knew it to be anger, defiance. If only to prove to himself that Inuyasha was also human, he squatted down next to him, and placing a hand on his shoulder, advised him not to move lest he cause further damage to himself.

After a long period of silence, Inuyasha looked around. He hadn't realized it before, but he had thought himself to be in Kaede's hut. They hadn't gotten very far from Kaede's Village when they had stopped to make camp. But looking around, he was aware that they were not in Kaede's hut. It certainly wasn't anyplace they had visited before. The furnishings were too grand. He sent a withering look at Miroku from the corner of his eyes.

Again, knowing what he was saying mentally, Miroku responded saying, "No Inuyasha. I am appalled at how dirty your mind has become! I did not seduce the young mistress here, as you have so imagined..." he continued mockingly, "She saw us coming down the road and welcomed me- I mean US with open arms..."

Inuyasha kept his glare in place. 'I guess he really has no faith in my Casonovian skills...' Miroku thought with a sigh.

"Currently we are staying the home of an older couple. It isn't far from where we were last night. We could not go very far, and the first building we saw was this one and the couple was kind enough to spare us two of their rooms. We have been here on they're hospitality for about a week," Inuyasha nodded deafly and Miroku continued, "Sango and I considered going back to Kaede's but..." he looked to the door flap. Leaning against the wall was an empty quiver and a bow that still had blood caked on it.

'So they did not want to leave Kagome... In her condition, I don't want her far from me anyway. I don't know what is changing about her, but I don't like it. I want her safe. How can I protect her in this condition? And what if she was feverous and a demon attacked? None of us want that to happen.'

"... and so we figured it best not to leave Kagome here with only you two here to protect yourselves. Not to mention, she is out of arrows. She wanted us to go. But we decided not to..." Miroku hadn't stopped talking. He turned though, from looking at the empty quiver to Inuyasha said something he hadn't heard in awhile.

"Incase Naraku reappears?"

Miroku looked at him, shocked. For the first 6 months after they're last encounter with Naraku, he had constantly searched for Naraku. He did not stop. He did not want to believe that his greatest enemy had simply disappeared. It was maddening to watch him stalk through the forest day in and day out. It was tiring. It was so tiring. Inuyasha would not allow himself to give up for his search for Naraku.

During those months...

They were the blackest for Kagome. She hadn't said anything, but they all knew why she was depressed. It didn't help that Inuyasha was very LOUD about voicing his displeasure about losing his chance to kill Naraku. However, after awhile, Inuyasha began to except that Naraku was either dead, or was in hiding. After that night, the night when the Shikon no Tama split again, demons that were always attacking them began to disappear. Whole villages too. They were just gone, in their place... craters, lakes, and fields of grass, as if they had been wiped away from existence. It was like they had been sucked up and had never been they're at all. Miroku wasn't sure if it was because of newly split Shikon no Tama, or simply the power that Naraku had abused and used to it's utmost fullest. And if he had been able to do what he wanted? He had the completed jewel clutched in his hands, the power to become the strongest demon ever. Where would everyone be? Would anyone be ALIVE if Kagome had not split the jewel AGAIN?

"So we have not gone back to Kaede's..." Inuyasha said, breaking Miroku from his thoughts. He didn't spend too much time thinking about the past, since it could not be changed.

He stopped short and considered exactly what he had just said. He mentally smiled a sad smile and thought: Apparently it was possible to change time, or the past and future. It was just the present that seemed like it could not be changed.

He nodded to confirm Inuyasha's question, his attention on him again.

"Why am I unable to move my body?" He asked, looking up into the ceiling. Miroku stood up and looking down into Inuyasha face smirked. He reached inside his robe and pulled out a small vial. It had clear liquid in it. He was instantly apprehensive. He watched as he bit at the cork that sealed the tiny little potion and pulled at it with his teeth. It came off with a plop and he leaned down to offer Inuyasha a drink.

He shook his head, and roughly asked him what it was.

Miroku wafted it lightly. "This is called Sicre, a special medicine made by Kagome. It is truly wonderful. I wonder how Kagome knew to make it..." He pondered aloud as Inuyasha tried to understand why Kagome would make a drug like that. "What does it do Miroku?" he asked quietly.

He turned to Inuyasha, and with a bright smile on his face, said, "It numbs the body and paralyzes you for long periods of time. Too much can be dangerous, but too little and the "patient" can harm themselves by trying to move they're half paralyzed body. Don't worry, Lady Kagome made sure to give you the proper dosage," he said hastily waving his hands to emphasize to Inuyasha that everything was alright.

"Still, I find it peculiar how Kagome suddenly remembered about such a strong drug. When I asked her if it was a medicine created back in her home time, she said that it wasn't. She said that she just KNEW how to make it, knew that you needed it, and so she made it..." Miroku trailed off. He knew that Inuyasha was thinking the same thing he was. In all honesty, he wasn't certain if it was because of her newfound "contacts," but it could very well have something, if only minor, to do with it. He was still semi frightened. He had never seen so much power before from a human. It was like-

He offered the vial of Sicre to Inuyasha. He shook his head, declining. "I can see why you would not want to take more. While it does help you when you are injured, it also numbs the mind and promotes sleep. You have been knocked out ever since that battle-"

'What battle were we in!?'

Inuyasha reaching his injured hands out to take hold of Tetsugaiga's hilt.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, his hand grabbing Inuyasha's shoulder. He lightly shook him but even still; Inuyasha was jerked back to reality. He shook his head, and looked up at Miroku. He could remember. He understood now. That little voice in the back of his mind wasn't DUMB, he was fighting with Kagome.

'NO," he mentally refused the fact that he HAD been fighting with Kagome, 'I was fighting with whatever had control of her!'

"Inuyasha." Miroku asked again. This time, Inuyasha's eyes slowly focused on Miroku's. They had won the "fight" as Miroku called it but if she was remembering things that she wasn't supposed to know, like the ingredients to Sicre, then they hadn't won the war.

'That means, everything I did, everything that happened... Was for nothing and Kagome...' he thought bitterly. Then an idea struck him.

"Where is she?" he asked. This was the first step of his plan.

"In the next room." Miroku understood again. He didn't know but he was falling right into the quicksand Inuyasha had laid out for him.

"No she isn't. I can smell her but the scent is old she has not been here for awhile." He sniffed visibly, and found Sango's scent. It too was old, older then Kagome's was. He guessed that Kagome had left two, three hours at most, ago and Sango had left early morning.

Miroku trusted Inuyasha's nose. He walked to the door and lifted the flap to peek inside of the other room. Inuyasha saw the empty quiver and the bloodied bow once more. Inuyasha longed to heave a sigh; how hard was it to get someone disappearing long enough for you to get some quick things done?

Personally, the whole deceit thing had only become a recent trait of Inuyasha's and even then, had it not been for Miroku's constant goading, he would never have become as deceitful as he was now. All those nights when Miroku went to go "protect" the girls while they were bathing had rubbed off on Inuyasha. It was innocent at first, but gradually it became a little something more. He WAS still protecting the girls, well, Kagome. Who knew when a big fish would come mess with them? Who would emerge from the bushes/trees to rescue them?

He shook his head as Miroku turned to tell him that he would go look for her.

"I will return with Kagome shortly. Please stay here until I have located her." And with that he left. Inuyasha waited. He could hear Miroku's labored breathing as he searched around outside the room he was in. When he could no longer hear the noisy swish of his purple robes, he sat up. It only caused a slight hitch in his breath. It was till hard to move, but he could at least do it now. He didn't know how Kagome would think a drug that paralyzes would be good for him.

'Stupid girl...' He thought as he walked out of the room, pushing the frail door flap out of the way

----...----

----...----

----...----

...'Kagome...'

'Kagome' it was there again.

'Kagome...' It spoke, this time right next to her.

'Open your eyes, Kagome...' It was inside her. It was her own mind.

'That voice.. Who is it that is speaking to me?' she asked.

'It is I...'

'I who?' Kagome was confused.

'I, of the Four souls...'

'I must be dreaming. Why can't you just leave me ALONE!?'

'You are unable...'

"Lady Priestess!!!"

Water splashed her from the side. Kagome was standing in the middle of a lake. The water around her was crystal blue and she could see the fish swimming around her legs. She looked down; she was wearing some sort of white Kimono that was secured at her waist by a simple white sash. She was wet and held a bucket in her hands. Her bangs were heavy and dripped water down her face.

"Lady Priestess, let's play, you and I!"

Kagome turned her eyes dull and saw the little girl standing with the hem of her kimono clutched in one plump hand and the other just above waist level, dripping with water.

'What is this? Is it another dream? Who is that child?'

There was something about that childs face that made her so infinitely sad. She didn't know who it was, but she was so familiar. When she smiled, when she laughed...It struck a chord in her that made her sad- sad for a reason she couldnt understand

She splashed Kagome again.

"Lady Priestess, can you teach me all you know, so I can grow up to be a beautiful priestess just like you?" Kagome stared down at her, incredulous. The little girl looked sincere. But her body seemed sinister somehow.

'Me, a priestess?'

"Lady Priestess isn't the sky so pretty?! My mama is probably going to start cooking something good for dinner soon so let's not miss it!!!" The little child squealed joyfully as she hopped out of the water and landed back in with a splash. She balled her tiny fists up and placed them under her chin as she giggled. Kagome was standing still, the bucket limp in her hands, supported solelyby the water. Her eyes were dull, confused and sick. Slowly her head lifted to greet the sky. It was black, filled with clouds that threatened to rain any moment.

Kagome felt the water wash up against her, soaking an inch higher of wetness on her white kimono. Her vision blurred, the little girl in front of her shimmered like mist and settled like nothing had happened. Her eyes reminded her of something, or someone, as did her hair. She even smelled familiar.

"And who..." she opened her mouth to speak, "is your mommy?" he girl stopped, dropping her hand to her side, releasing her kimono to shove her hands under the water. She threw her cupped hands up and water flew into the air and came down like soft rain above their heads. Her eyes smiled and her teeth flashed sweetly.

She gave her a serious, funny look before giggling, "Don't be silly! Lady Priestess knows MY mommy! Come on back to the village and let's prepare a feast, Lady Priestess!" She reached into the water again, throwing her hands up repeatedly. Water sloshed over Kagome's robe.

She could feel it crawling up her kimono. She looked down, not able to control her movements, and watched as the water swirled against her fabric and seep through the pure white cloth.

She gasped, her eyes widening as it inched up to cover her chest, and it dripped down her fingers like water. Around her it blossomed out like a flower. With each ripple blood began to flow. The clear water around her quickly became that of blood.

Shocked, she looked up at the girl. She was smiling, bouncing up and down, still. She landed in the water with a SPLOSH and lifting her hands to the sky let a soft drizzle of blood splatter over her smiling features. She turned to look at Kagome, her eyes unusually bright and still. Bloodied splotches were splattered all over her figure, slipping down her face like tendrils of smoke. She continued to dance though, like a tortured marionette. She spun, and as she did, whipped away the scene before Kagome and faded into a woman.

She stood before Kagome dressed as a normal shrine maiden, the only enhancement was the sword sheath at her side and four shining symbols on her forehead.

'Kagome.' came the voice again...

----...----

----...----

----...----

Miroku walked slowly out of the trees. He was so tired he was certain to drop right where he stood. He sighed heavily, as he walked back towards the little hut/house. He had not found Kagome but it had been at least three HOURS since he had gone looking for her. The sun was going to set soon.

He left the clove of trees and was back on the main road. As he walked, he wondered what Inuyasha had done in his absence. He suddenly realized exactly what Inuyasha had done. And while he had to admire his newfound level of deviance, he was distraught that he, the master, had fallen for such a simple trick.

'Live and learn, I always say. I must admit, I am a splendid teacher.' He continued walking down the road. From behind him a huge shadow swept closer to him. He turned to see what danger there was, prepared to do damage and was-

"SANGO!" He cried, throwing himself at the woman. She dropped the huge wild boar that she had somehow attached to her boomerang and blushed as he grabbed her around the midsection. She could see his eyes in the distinct shape and she pressed against his shoulder's futilely to push him off. He was slowly/lovingly rubbing his face against her stomach and she couldn't deny the obvious blush that covered her cheeks when he did that.

"Oh! Sango! Won't you prepare this starved and sickened man a meal to ease his sufferings?" She felt her strength leave her hands and they now rested again his shoulders like a lover's would. She sighed, content with the feeling of his stubbly face on her belly from beneath soft Kimono she wore.

Her eye's bulged as she felt something slide across her bottom.

"KIIIIIYAAAAAA!"

She screamed, and raised her fist to smack him on the head. She brought it down with a thud and he crumpled to the ground. She looked down at him for a moment, and saw the little whirlpools shooting off in his now blackened eye. She smiled, a blush still on her cheeks, and rubbed at her stomach. She felt so... nice.

She shook her head and grabbed Hirikotsu. She wasn't sure but she thought that she might be able to carry him the short distance back. It was going to be hard.

She hefted him up onto her shoulders, his arms hanging limply down her shoulders. He was a lot heavier then she had originally thought. Then grabbing Hirakotsu with one hand, she made her way back to the inn, preparing to PREPARE him a generously proportioned meal.

----...----

----...----

----...----

"NO!" She cried, reaching her hand out to shove the woman away, not certain why fear filled her heart. She had slowly advanced, and with fear flooding her sense's Kagome had stepped away from the woman, swinging wildly with her hands. She must had swung to hard because her hand meant nothing, going through the woman's chest as if she had been apart of her all along. She lost her balance and toppled through her. She felt an instant of intense cold as she fell to the dirt.

She landed in a puddle of sorts, splashing up liquid all over her face and chest. At the last second she closed her eyes bracing herself for the impact. Her hands softened the fall but it still hurt. Her hand ached, and so did her body. A surge of heat had her curling into herself, her body taunt and rigid. It was a drastic change. From almost frozen to being on fire-- burning from the inside out.

She was wet; the weight of her drenched kimono weighed her down and only increased her temperature. She reached up and wiped at the side of her face where the sprayed liquid was sliding down the slope of her cheek. But it was too slick for it to just be water. The Miko still stood above her with the same impassive expression as before. She watched as Kagome looked at her hand, the expression on her face contorting into utter repulsion and remained unmoving.

Kagome stared at her hand, covered in blood. It glistened like it was fresh. Horror welled up inside herself. Her eyes wide and twitching, she looked down at what it was exactly that she had landed in...

She had fallen face first into a pile of dead animals.

'NO.'

Dead DEMONS.

She felt something inside herself snap. She didn't scream. Instead her hands which had suddenly become numb came up to grasp the only dry part of her body, her shoulders. She rubbed at them as she stared, transfixed at what she was sitting in. The blood on her hands smeared over her shoulders like smeared paint over a fresh white sidewalk.

By her bare and bloodied foot was a long piece of intestines, still oozing excrement's...

She just stared at herself in the mirror of blood. Half of her face was covered in red blood. She looked like... She looked like...

'Kagome'

She turned, numb, and stared at the Miko who hadn't moved at all during her discovery. She had one hand clutching a sword, raised above her head. Kagome could have sworn she saw a trail of blood slip down the blade like a tear. It was a simple sword, with only two jewels at the base of the blade; one was Crimson and the other one Azure. The sword had no aura. It wasn't pure, nor was it tainted.

"Do you wish to kill me?" she heard herself say. The Miko's eyes twitched once.

Kagome felt her heart throb once, and she knew even before the chilling whisper slithered its way through her mind, "You know what must be done..."

The blade came down. She knew what she had to do. She wasn't going to die here. She raised her hand, her power flaring up from the palm of her hand, exactly like it had against Mistress Centipede, and scorched the woman's face. It pealed away the flesh and an unearthly sound ripped from her throat in the form of a name.

"_Midoriko!" _

Kagome sat up, gasping. She blinked, panting and holding her chest in an effort to calm her racing heart. She had stopped sweating she realized, as she made a swipe at her forehead. She turned to look out into the water. It was still so calm and peaceful.

'Midoriko... Who was she and why does her name sound so familiar?'

She grunted and stood slowly. She barely made it to the water before she was falling. The water rushed up to meet her and she made a large splash as she landed half in and half out of the little lake. Was it just her imagination, or was steam rising from her body? She resisted the urge to vomit.

'My body... it's not... hot... anymore...'

She smiled, her last thought before falling into a dreamless sleep, 'I wonder if Inuyasha has woken up yet..." and her eyes drifted closed...

...Nothing moved for a long time. It was utterly still and completely silent as the water rippled off the banks from Kagome's body. From there they flowed sweetly over the gentle surface of water. Behind a bush and some trees a man clad in red and standing tall watched the spot where Kagome laid, amber eyes fixed unblinkingly on her form, not failing to notice the how the water glowed with her touch.

* * *

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* * *

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**End of Chapter Author Commentary:**

Chapter Three History:

Started: 5/19/04

Finished: 5/20/04

Revised: 6/34/04

Final Revision: 8/14/04

Clarification No.1: Dont ask about Sicre-- it is a fctional term and shouldnt be too important to the story... sort've...

-Luky


	5. Faint Echoes of a Past Long Ago

_9-4-04 _

_Hurricane Frances is on its way to destroy the rest of Florida. Please keep all of Florida in your prayers. Thank You._

_- Luky_

**Chapter Five**

Faint Echoes of a past Long ago

-...-

-...-

-...-

"Miroku, get over it or get left behind!" Sango said hauntingly over her shoulder. She sent a smoldering look at Miroku that could have melted the polar ice caps. She clenched her fits in rage as he continued to deny the entire incident that had happened that morning.

Considering the fact that he really didn't have much reliable information for his side of the argument... He was losing.

When Sango had woken up, it was around dawn. Inuyasha was most likely awake, but everyone else was still asleep. Including Miroku. Sometime in the night, he had sneaked past Sango's guard. When she awoke, she had found him all but sprawled over her. He was lucky that he was above the covers.

Shortly after her discovery, the entire inn erupted with an almost animalistic shriek of pain. Kagome had shot up from her sleeping bag and Inuyasha had already drawn Tetsugaiga at the sound but when they looked around for any signs of a threat, they came across Sango, who was standing over Miroku, her hands clenched on her katana, ready to bring it down and give him death.

Somehow Miroku had found the situation humorous and he laughed...

And without Kirara and the compliance of Inuyasha, they had no way to carry Miroku's unconscious form. Kagome had tried to speak with Sango, but she had simply left the shack entirely. She wondered if it would be hazardous to her health to follow her, considering the condition Miroku was in right now, she decided not to.

Well, to say the least, they got on a very late start back to Kaede's place.

When Miroku regained consciousness, it was around nine in the morning. He had gotten up and stretched lazily. Kagome had just glared at him from the corner. He looked at her and flashed a goofy, lopsided grin. She couldn't help but feel a flicker of admiration for him having down something so audacious.

However...

"Your dirty pervert. You're not going to get any further by doing things like that." Kagome said with a hint of laughter in the back of her voice. Miroku threw his hands up as if he was about to be arrested and said, "What was I to do? She probably asked me to!"

Kagome laughed; "you think she _likes_ that kind of thing, Miroku?" the expression on his face was insatiable. She could see even now, as he considered it. He **seriously** considered it.

He was a ladies man...

Moreover... a pervert.

"Actually, girls like her do like those kinds of things." Kagome's mouth dropped in shock, "aggressive," if it was possible, it dropped further, "yet still very female." He sighed, his hands rubbing his stomach as if he had just eaten a very large, very delicious meal. Kagome's expression was enough to tell him that he had not amused her.

"You hentai! Her feelings were really hurt. I can't believe you would do that. And Sango is not that kind of girl, she's not aggressive like that! For once, why don't you be the serious one and make the right kind of move!" She highly doubted he would take "moves" with any style or dignity. "And not like the groping type of moves! I mean, like denying other woman and giving up groping her!!! She really likes you, be hers, **EXCLUSIVELY**!"

By the time, she had gotten to the end of the sentence, she was yelling. He could barely hear her over his insane laughter. He could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to reach out and smack him but was having fun fighting with him. He was coming towards her, clutching his belly and cackling at her. She resisted the urge to smack him as he leaned against the wall.

Sometime during they're "fight" Kagome had stood up and leaned against the wall beside him. She could not help the small smile that played over her face and didn't understand where it had come from. Instead, she simply relaxed, resting her head against the wall and looking up into the ceiling.

"I suppose your recent feelings on this subject are a direct reflection of what happened a few days ago?" he moved closer to her side, elbowing her. She stared at him quizzically, wondering what he meant. Seeing her expression he said, "You two didn't meet?"

"Who?" She aked, not understanding. Kagome looked up into his face with a question in her eyes and as she looked upon him she felt strength returning to her and felt a little foggy in her mind. She shook her head and tried to imagine Inuyashas face but couldnt...

"You and Inuyasha? After I left to find you... Well, I ran back to the camp and Inuyasha was gone too. And then later that night Inuyasha came back a few minutes before you did." Kagome's eyes widened, surprised, but she heard the words as if not really caring. Mirkou too, was surprised. Why wasnt Kagome exited or intersted in knowing that Inuyasha disapeared when she did..?

"Are you saying that you two didn't see each other?" Miroku asked, his hand on her shoulder shaking her lightly. She had been staring straight ahead. As she turned to look at him, he saw the same purple twinge around her eyes. Alarm raced through him, along with a cold fear that dropped his stomach like a ton of rocks.

'Her eyes look just like that night!'

Those same eyes bore through him, as she stared into him, as if searching for something. "And where is Inuyasha?" she whispered. "He's uh..."He stuttered, surprised and shocked when she leaned against him, apparently weak. Her head rested on his chest and her hands reached up to lightly trail up and down his arms.

"Kagome? What are you doing?" He cried, backing away. Much to his displeasure, she went with him. For once, he wasn't able to laugh at the situation. Inuyasha was gone and Sango had not returned. What was he going to do? Where was Inuyasha when he needed him? He couldnt handle another beating from Sango.

"I want to know... Miroku..." she whispered again, her voice faint, unlike hers and more like someone from their past. But it was surprisingly different. It didn't sound like Kagome at all. When she spoke words, she sounded strange, but when she said his name, it was as if she was recognizing him as MIROKU, but at the same time her voice seemed softer and carried with it traces of-

'Love???'

"What... What has you Kagome? You know where Inuyasha is!" He cried, his voice yelling over her soft entreaties. She stopped smliing, apparently returning to normal as she slumped against him. She was suddenly heavy again, though not much heavier. Her skin had lost it's bright color and her eyes were closed, but he was certain that whatever it was had left her.

He looked around. He was confused by what just happened. Somewhere inside of him he knew that Kagome had not been doing that, and somehow... she was aware of him, if not with a different reaction then normal...

But wait! If Inuyasha came in, he wouldn't be able to walk or grope anything ever again!

'To not be able to caress Sango's soft curves would be pure TORTURE!!!'

And if Sango walked in...

He gulped.

With a shove, he kicked himself away from the wall. Kagome went with him and started to fall to the floor. He reached down and grasped her shoulder, stopping her fall and halting her, her head laying limp to the side. He looked over her once... twice... Nothing was out of order. She had a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead and her chest was still the proper size.

It was then that he noticed it. The Shikon fragment that rested on a simple chain at her neck, was glowing softly. He reached down to finger it. His hand was shocked back- repelled. This morning held MANY surpsises.

Moments later she woke up. She looked around and saw him.

"Did I faint?.." She asks, rubbing her head gingerly. Miroku barely even looked at her, partially from worry, and partially because he was in some deep thought. But he figured it to be best to not let her worry... He turned to her and smiled.

"Do you have a headache?" she shook her head, no. "I'm afraid the blow you made to my head shocked you so much that you had a fit... Awful thing, really." Kagome looked at him for a moment, one eyebrow elegantly arched, and then laughed. He was glad that she seemed normal now. But still...

-...-

-...-

-...-

"Are you even listening?!?! Miroku!!!" Sango stood in front of him now, blocking his path. She angrily beat on him. He lifted his arms up, trying vainly to deflected the blows. He had blocked out her rants and raves earlier while he was thinking but now sh was right in his face bitching.

'No... But what happened to Kagome...' He was worried. He hadn't meant to be thinking about it still. What disturbed him the most, was the way she had almost came onto him. It was like she a completely different person. She may have looked like Kagome, but it definitely hadn't been her. She wasn't in control of her actions. Yet somehow she had been semi in control of her thoughts otherwise she wouldn't have been worried about Inuyasha...

"Miroku!!!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. If there was one thing she could find humor in, it was Miroku and Sango's skirmishes. But it had started in the morning, and even now, it hadn't stopped. It was getting to the point where she simply wanted to whirl on them and scream "SIT!" Maybe if she tried hard enough, it would work.

She groaned. The morning had started too early and was dragging on. The trip back to Kaede's as taking forever as well. If it hadn't been for Sango and Miroku's escapades they would have been there by noon. Instead they had had to leave as soon as Inuyasha and Sango had returned.

She looked at Inuyasha from the side of her eyes. She studied him. As he stepped forward, the gentle, yet manly slips of hair that drifted above his eyes shifted and swerved. His arms were folded in his sleeves and rested against his chest. He walked with a purpose, even if his expression was a slack one.

She wondered if perhaps it was as she and Miroku guessed. He was either avoiding her, or had found something to really chew on. Whatever it was, it took up all his time and quite simply consumed him. He was once again silent and unresponsive.

She looked down to the ground and completely missed the change in his expression as his eye shifted to her face. His expression softened for an instant and then slipped back into it's bored sheath. He looked exactly like he had before.

'Yeah," she looked at him again, he was walking still, silent as the grave, 'he definitely is ignoring me...'

'And... I have a good guess why...'

-...-

-...-

-...-

The first thing she was aware of was a faint breath of air against her ear as it whispered something that she couldn't consciously register. It pickled at her nerves, and she began to awake, annoyed by the soft noise- but mostly annoyed that she hadn't understood it.

The second thing she was aware of was the sound of water. Behind her closed eyes, she could see spots of light. She was laying on her back. Her arms felt oddly disjointed from her body. She couldn't locate where they were at all. Her head was heavy. How was she supposed to move?

"Ugghhh..."

Kagome moaned, her arm, which was oddly stiff, reached up to smooth away her bangs from her eyes. It wasn't bright, but when she opened her eyes she saw spots. She felt like she had rested for days. It was the same feeling that you get when you sleep for 12 hours and wake up and you're still tired.

She sat up. Every bone in her body felt heavy, much like the rest of her body. She examined her surroundings. She remembered this place. It was a lake. And it was beautiful. She took a moment to soak it all up, the sounds, the colors the textures...

When she examined herself, she was mildly surprised that she was dry. Completely dry in fact.

She could have sworn that she had stumbled and landed half in and half out of the water. She had passed out. But when she woke up, she was laying on her back, dry, and her arms were laying across her chest like a mummies would.

She reached up, wiping at her face. She seemed to do that a lot now, wiping at her forehead. Ever since the day the jewel broke again, she had been making forehead swipes and dealing with grumpy men. It was a habit she couldn't shake, much the same as brushing your teeth.

'Speaking of teeth and bad breath...'

She stood and stretched. The muscles in her body sighed contently. She looked around. She hadn't realized that she had no clue where she was. And while the lake was a sight that she could have never made HER eyes sore, she had a feeling her EYES should be somewhere else.

She started to walk away, but she felt a pull coming from the lake. She turned back to it. Her heart felt heavy and light at the same time. She couldn't place the feeling that she had when she turned her back to this place.

'That's the first time I have slept without a dream of some sort. Even though I can't remember what happened exactly, this area makes me feel better, stronger. What is it about this lake that I find so... comforting???'

It had to mean something, the feeling of security that filled her when she was here. It was almost like the way she felt when she was under Goshinboku. It was comforting. Inside of her, at least a part of her, she was certain that this lake was important somehow. And she didn't really WANT to leave it. But alas, she must.

She deliberately turned away from the sight of rushing water and walking away.

As she stepped back onto the forest path and felt her feet stick, she realized she had walked through mud. Her feet made sucky noises when she walked. It was a squelching noise that would have amused a third grade class. She smiled softly, and continued forward.

'No doubt it would have been bad if I had fallen asleep through the night. I would have been eaten alive by mos-'

There, on the ground, behind a tall bush, was a set of foot prints. In front of those was a set of prints that could have only be mistaken for human hands. Surprised, she leaned down to examine them. They were all fresh, the mud that had been suctioned up when the feet and hands had been removed was still flattening. That meant whoever it was who had been here, had only recently left.

"Inuyasha...?"

-...-

-...-

-...-

Kagome sighed.

'I just can't figure out WHY he would be ignoring me...'

It had to of been Inuyasha's footprints. Nobody else, other than maybe Kouga, would think to place her neatly on that bank. It was like he was shy.. Or.. Something...

She blushed, her hand coming to her lips thoughtfully. She looked at him, from under her eyelashes. After a moment, she caught herself.

'What the hell do I expect to be able to do? Inuyasha is not shy... is he?' She looked at him again, her eyes blurring, trying to learn something from him, the way he walked, confident, strong, and...

A flash of purple glow entered her eyes and in an instant it was gone, as if it had never been there.

'Even still, that jerk! How could he just leave me there? Why was he hiding in the first place? Inuyasha...' she turned to him this time, growling inwardly. If he was going to be so off handed about everything, she would take his job and over exaggerate everything. The sound of Sango's rambling drowned out the words that flipped from the tip of her tongue. Defeated, she slung her shoulders.

"ADMIT IT MIROKU!"

Kagome turned to watch them, wondering why Sango thought so much of that morning. Sure he took a very daring step, but... She normally wasn't this bitchy about everything. She watched, not in the least surprised as she beat at him with her fists. Miroku was laughing his head off, deflecting each of her blows with ease.

'Awe, Miroku... Your only fueling her rage by laughing...'

"You dirty LECH! You KNOW you did it! STOP YOUR LYING!!!!!!" Sango bellowed. She sure could get pissed. In an act of sheer rage, she reared up and punched him square in the face. He dropped like a ton of bricks. Kagome stopped, her bike resting at her hip. Despite the hunk of metal that had been used to make the bike... well, it was surprisingly light.

"Hey, Sango, how do you expect for us to carry him?' Kagome called out. Sango didn't hear her. She was busy patting at his face, trying to revive him. It was likely that she had lost control of her rage and hit him a bit too hard.

Then again, a bit too hard was the understatement of the year.

So in the end, it was up to Inuyasha to carry him back to Kaede's village. But, as Kagome turned to address him, she saw that he had continued walking ahead of them and was currently a ways away. "Inuyasha?" she asked, raising her voice a little so she could be heard. He didn't acknowledge that she had spoken, didn't turn, just kept walking.

'It is almost as if he really IS ignoring me!' She scrunched up her face as she stalked up to him. Stomping as loud as she could towards him, she braced herself, reigning the anger back in, cause if she didn't, she was likely to-

She tapped him as gently as she could, on the shoulder, relaxing instantly.

In the back ground, Kagome could hear Sango asking in an angry/worried voice for Miroku to get up. She watched, as he reached up with one hand to swipe at his shoulder. He didn't even turn to look or anything. He didn't stop. He just kept walking as if she had not called to him or, in an amazing display of self restraint, TAPPED him.

Anger.

Se reared back a hand, and as hard as she could, smacked him on the back. He stumbled and kept walking. It was like he had tripped on something, but didn't care to move whatever it was he had tripped on. Kagome developed an instant tick under her eye. It twitched once, twice and then she screamed, "Inuyasha," still no response, which only further infuriated her, then-

"OSUWARI!!!!!!!" She screamed, bloodcurdling and high pitched.

He instantaneously hit the dirt. Dazed was no longer an adjective that could be used to describe him. He sat up, yelling and cursing at Kagome something awful. They could have been insults, but they sounded much more vulgar. He got up, not caring to pat away the dust that covered him, making him look ridiculous.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!!!" he raged.

Kagome stood her ground, hand balled into tiny fists placed strategically on her waist. "I called to you and I tapped you and I shoved you!!! But you didn't regard me at all!!!"

Miroku, who had opened his eyes finally, was staring at the two with a perplexed look on his face. Sango just glared at him, telling him that they were at it again, but not with such few words. He couldn't help the dangerous smile that crept along his bruised, yet still handsome features.

"Well maybe I was just thinking, did you ever THINK about that?" Inuyasha yelled back.

"But you don't EVER think, it's just recently that you have decided to space out on us! Why so silent NOW!"

"I'm allowed a moment to think just as long as I can appear to save your asses all the time! Isn't that right?!?!?!?!"

Kagome's face contorted with fury. It was at the tip of her tongue and she was ready to use her privilege. Inuyasha leaned forward, enjoying the thought of ripping her hair out and making her submit to him. Since when did she think she could talk to him like this? Stupid girl!

He didn't miss the evil sparkle in her eyes as she leaned forward, prepared to sit him into oblivion. In fact, her would have thrown his hands up and begged for her not to, but-

At just that moment, Miroku rose from his spot on the ground and stood between them. His hands were reaching up to press against they're chests, separating them. Sango stood slowly as well, following them, confused. His hand came up against Inuyasha's chest and the other over Kagome's. However, his hand landed on something it shouldn't have.

Kagome's breasts.

"Sssss... SIT!" Kagome screamed, her eyes bulging. She said the first thing that came to mind when he groped her. At the same time Inuyasha's fist descended, Kagome's hand came to slap him in the face. But they were both beaten as Miroku was thrown foreword with the weight of Sango tackling him from behind. Inuyasha crashed to the ground as Kagome swiped at the air in front of her at an imaginary Miroku.

Kagome watched, in awe, as Sango straddled Miroku's back and beat at him with her fists. Inuyasha had risen from the ground, cracking his knuckles, a look of sheer death in his eyes. Miroku might very nearly die from this situation! What could happen? Would Inuyasha kill Miroku this time?

'Oh no!' Without thinking, Kagome rushed forward, grabbing Inuyasha's big sleeve in her small hands and pulled until the cloth rest against her chest. He stopped, startled and looked at back at her, from the corner of his eyes.

'What the?... why did I just, grab him, like this?...' She asked herself, Sango still beating at Miroku in front of them. She felt flustered, by the action she had just... done. But it wasn't just that? Why did she care if Miroku got the crap kicked out of him? He had just groped her, hadn't he?

'Oh my god! Am I BLUSHING?!' She gasped mentally as she felt a slight heat flush her face. She wasn't certain from what. She looked up into Inuyasha's eyes. The look there went right through her. She couldn't speak afterwards. She was shocked and completely confounded. His eyes held hers' for a long time. After awhile he seemed to have found an answer in them, and with a sigh turned away from her. She felt the tug as he got to far for her to hold his robe so close to her, and let it fall away from her hands.

She felt tears sting in her eyes. 'Why am I crying?' An overwhelming feeling of sorrow and joy swim through her before a wave of heat swept them away, leaving her feeling comfortable. She blinked, 'what just happened here?...' She stared after him as she watched his retreating figure get further and further away. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but were hastily blinked away with the sound of serious shuffling to her left.

Sango got off of Miroku just as she turned to see what the noise was. She dusted at her kimono, which wasn't very dusty, and swiped away at her knuckles. Had she of had her boomerang in hand, she would have quite possible killed him. As she turned, she expected to see Inuyasha, growling and swiping with his claws in her direction, reaching for Miroku. She expected for Kagome to be holding him back with all her might, what she saw surprised her enough to make her sad.

Kagome was watching as Inuyasha kept walking.

'I guess that is what they're relationship has turned into... with all of they're fighting...'

She cast a smile at Kagome as she looked at her, tentatively walking towards her boomerang that had been abandoned at the roadside.

She watched the cloud of dust around Miroku disappear. On the ground was what looked like a lump rock. It wasn't moving at all. The only ting pointing to MAYBE it was a living thing, at least at one time, was the purple coloring of the robe that you would never find on a rock. She wondered if this time Sango killed him. She ran towards him, and slowed almost instantly as she become aware of Inuyasha stopping. She sensed it in her mind, and slowed. Behind her she could almost SEE Inuyasha's hand reaching for the handle of his sword, poised to pull it from the sheath if Miroku made another move. A large part of her rejoiced. The other wanted to SIT him for ignoring her just a moment ago.

She reached down, squatting, and slapped at Miroku's face. He peeked an eye open and she leaned down to hear what he had to say. She reached a hand to pull the hair away from her ear so she could hear him correctly. As he whispered, she shivered, "Did it work?"

Kagome leaned back on her heals, a look of complete disbelief over her features. She knew exactly what he was doing, what he did. He hastily closed his eyes as Inuyasha came up behind her, casting her in shadow. She shivered again this time, but it was different this time. She was glad for the close proximity with HIM. With Miroku...

"Get up Miroku, your not DEAD yet. And If you don't HURRY UP!..." he growled, his arms crossed, but his fists balled. She looked up from her crouched position and looked up at him, smiling brightly, "He can't be dead, remember Inuyasha? It's not a truly in opportune time for him to die, not now anyway."

He caught her eyes, her smile, the way her lips turned up with her gentle yet jovial smile- what was he thinking?!

'Keh, I was thinking nothing!'

"KEH."

She reached towards him, dusting off a piece of his robe, looking to her right, where the road was. She watched as Sango walked by them, a look of complete uncaring over her features. She smiled again, this time, from a more noticeable humor and said, "you'll have to carry him, Inuyasha."

He looked down at her again. They're eyes met and locked gazes. For the second time that day, the two of them were confused by what they saw in each others eyes. Whether or not it was just mental or physical, neither of them understood each other. But a feeling of security, that everything was right in the world, and that they were together... He looked away, shrugging, and reaching down, he hefted the supposedly unconscious Miroku onto his back.

Kagome wasn't certain what she had seen in his eyes, but one moment he had stopped her cold and the next she was out of breath and heady. 'What a difference... That last time he stared at me like that was only a few moments ago, but it was... completely different from that time... This time...' She watched as he picked Miroku up onto his shoulders and turned away from her, walking back towards the road.

She watched as Miroku's head bobbed up and down with each of Inuyasha's steps. She stood, and following them, she went to her bike.

Was it her, or did Inuyasha just ACT like he had a problem with Miroku? She smiled, 'or is it that it is simply a return to normalcy?' She didn't feel it, but her smile falter ever so slightly. She shook her head, and leaned over to pick up her bike. This one was blue/green and had a chrome look to it. It had an almost fog like spray over most of the metal. It was new, and the seat hurt. Even still...

She turned to look at Inuyasha. Sango was far ahead. She felt it again. The ache deep inside of her chest, in her heart. It hurt to watch him walk away. It was only dull though, and she ignored it. She watched as Miroku turned his head completely, and winked.

She stopped. And with an inward laugh, she hopped onto her bike, smiling contently at a joke that only she and one other person understood.

'Miroku... Thank you!' She told him in her mind. Had it not been for him...

She went at a slow pace, enjoying the feeling of this time they had. It was almost normal. The wind in her hair. Inuyasha, and Sango... She couldn't explain the feeling of continence that came over her as she watched her friends as they traveled ahead of her.

Which she noticed, was quite a BIT in front of her. With a yelp, she called out-

"Wait for me Inuyasha!"

-...-

-...-

-...-

Standing at the top of a hill overlooking a grassy plain was indeed a wonderful and blissful action to be entertaining in. Light winds that speared the air and fluttered the grass made the image all the more alluring. Wildflowers were spring here and there, no real coordination. That was what life was like. Without coordination.

And yet...

A Miko, so unlike any other Miko, stood, admiring the scenery. She turned partially to look from the corner of her eye to the patch of dirt behind her. Bow in hand, she turned and strode towards it. It wasn't a crater, that could be made certain, but the grass grew around the patch in a complete circle, 4 feet from the middle.

As she neared it, she felt the presence of a lingering aura push against her. It pressed against her very flesh and constricted her very being. Yet through it all-

She could feel nothing...

In the middle of this field was a circular patch of dirt that spanned 8 feet across in every direction. It was like it had been measured, set in stone exactly in a circle. Only few things could make a perfect circle on uneven land.

She slipped her sandals off her pale feet and set them on the ground where she stood. She didn't hesitate as she stepped forward into the ring. It was instantly nauseating. She wouldn't let it get to her though. Even if it was harder to breath, and her physical form, as weak as it was, could be damaged, she had to see what had taken place here. She had not sensed any Jyaki and didn't now either. She took another step forward.

The will can oftentimes be stronger then the body. When the heart and mind have one goal, with much persuasion, the body can accomplish that goal regardless of a beings physical capacity.

'My heart and mind are one here. Someone such as I should be permitted entry on this sacred ground..."

She looked down at her pale feet and felt the slight burning sensation as the holy ground pealed away at her "flesh." She, even still, admired the rich color of the soil underneath her toes.

She had not stood on ground as pure as this since the day she had died. The feeling of being honored with such a gift came first, then the hope that someone had granted her wish and given her life again so that she may better enjoy the gift. Was she once again able to sip in the delight of something untainted? Then her hope died and with the lose of it came the bitterness of her death. She felt the charge in the air shift and become stronger. She wasn't concentrating.

She knelt down as she came to the middle of the circle, and placed her hands against the soil. She looked down at it, her body slowly getting hotter.

'I cannot do this for much longer or my body will be crushed!' She thought, desperately holding onto her few bits of concentration.

After a moment she began to focus on the ground. She closed her eyes, blocking out all other senses.

She began, "Ground... Earth... from this I was made... From this I live again, my body preserved and kept sacred by the confides of your warmth..."

Her brow furred as she fought violently against the other sources of energy in the circle. They were trying to force her out, but who? She had to find out.

Her brow furrowed lightly in concentration. It was stronger, so strong that she gasped and with a cry shouted, 'Show me what transpired at this spot!!!'

And then the images came. Thousands. Millions. They blurred so fast that she could barely tell what she saw let alone piece them together. It was the first time she had used this much energy to retrieve a memory.

A girl darting through a row of bushes, her eyes purple, and glowing..

An arrow shooting into the sky, flaming.

A giant boomerang slicing through a Marlboro Demon.

A girl being tackled by a man.

Flames... purple flames...

The glow of Shikon shards at the girls neck, a glowing purple line on the side of her face.

The Marlboro fighting with the man.

Blood, a spray of it, from a man's mouth.

The man slicing at the demon.

The girl glowing.

Burning, shredding everything, destroying yet giving new life to everything.

The girl on fire.

The man screaming.

Energy building, a shield-

She let out a choked cry. It was getting hard to think, to process. Why was this so difficult? This was so simple for her! Why couldn't she do this! She should be ABLE TOO!

The man screaming, pulling a sword from-

A cry-

Blood-

She was burning, alone-

Black darkness chilling her-

Heat on fevered flesh-

An Arrow-

The Shikon no Tama glowing-

A scream-

A name-

The field exploding in light-

She gasped, blood spraying from her mouth as something inside her collapsed, breaking her concentration. Her hair thing connection with the memories snapped and she gasped, a surge of heat rippling over her chest. She looked at her hands, and choked softly. The flesh- no... the CLAY that served as skin... was pealing away. She stood quickly and got a foot away from the center. The change in strength of gravity was astronomical. She tripped on her pants leg from the imbalance and toppled backwards, outside of the circle, her body smoking.

She gasped, a with one giant white sleeve wiped at her mouth. Her eyes narrowed and she was panting. Her legs were tangled, her body weak. She felt the glide of the Soul Gatherers encircled her from under her arms and lifted her to her feet. She regained her footing and her composure.

'What does all that mean?' she wondered, once again calm, cool, and collected. She, without thinking, touched her chest. Surprise clouded her features as she felt something that had long ago left her form-

'It's warm...'

She turned, and saw what she had seen in one of the images. A broken arrow a few yards away from where she now stood. It must have been that arrow that "That Girl" had shot. She stared at it with no emotion at all, just saw the blood that was on the golden feather there. She knew whose blood that was.

It was Kagome's arrow and Inuyasha's blood.

She felt shocked, somehow. It was strange for her to feel anything at all. Somehow, coming here had renewed her. While her body was weak, she was much like she had been before. It was strange.

She was even more shocked when she felt something wet slide quickly down her face. She reached up and touched at her cheek, surprised again. She took her hand away and saw the wetness on her finger tips. She stared for a moment, then let her arm drop to her side.

She stood there, the darkness of night very bewitching as she looked up into the moon. The wind blew softly at her, lifting her clothing and letting it gather into the wind like a scarf. She felt so strange. She couldn't place it.

As she looked out into the field she said, "Tears..."

'When nothing answered, she didn't move. The wind continued to blow, and the Soul gathers continued to encircle her.

'Why was I crying...'

-...-

-...-

-...-

It was early evening when they arrived at Kaede's village.

Crossing over the bridge to home was like a long stretch after a cozy nap. It was so comforting to know "I'm home," and that the bed your sleeping in is yours and that the house you stay in is yours. Looking over at Sango and Miroku, she knew it was the same for them. She even knew that Inuyasha was relieved to be bacl "home" although she knew he would never admit it.

'I'm back.' Kagome thought.

No sooner had she said it did she spot a small kitsune running towards her, it's arms outstretched, reaching for her. Another wonderful thing about being home, was the people that greeted you on your safe return.

"Kagome!!! Sango! Miroku!!!" came a well known screech from behind some houses directly in front of them.

Kagome turned to Shippou and opened her arms in welcome. He jumped into her arms with preamble, nearly tackling her. She heard Sango laugh behind her before continuing passed them, Miroku close on her heals.

Kagome became instantly aware that he had grown quite a bit since she had left a month before. Tears sprang to her eyes as she hugged him with all her might. She still hadn't been able to shake the sad feeling she got when she left them again but at least she had the knowledge that she would be able to come back to them after long. At that thought a stab of fear/sorrow pierced her heart.

She ignored.

She squeezed him tighter and was aware that Kaede was walking towards them. Sango and Miroku paused for a moment then excuse themselves. She loosed her hold on Shippou and turned to her. Kagome didn't know how old Kaede was, but it was pretty old for this era. She wondered exactly how she was able to walk, even with her old bow there to support her. She caught Kagome's smile and returned it with another of just the same kind, the deep wrinkles in her face contorting to look like something akin to a gremlin.

"Kaede..." Kagome began. She wasn't able to resist the warmth that came with Kaede's old smile. They closed the distance between them and Kagome, still holding Shippou, hugged her tightly.

"I see your doing well, old HAG." Inuyasha scoffed as he passed them. He turned to say, curtly over his shoulder, "minus the obvious limp..."

"Welcome back, Inuyasha." She said calmly, the same old smile on her face. It was expected for something like that from Inuyasha. And while Kagome knew he really did appreciate his welcome, he didn't need to keep acting like the "tough" guy. She was about to reprimand him when he spoke over his shoulder again, saying, "we've things to discuss..." Kaede turned to Kagome, who hung her head low adn averted her eyes.

'Maybe tonight is the night I will hear about what is happening to me. Maybe the whole story will come out tonight...'

Even before they had left, the problem with Kagome's... illness... had been present. Kaede and the others hadn't said much to her at all. In fact, she hadn't known anything of it. She hadn't returned home much during that time. And it was normally only for short periods of time. Since her graduation, she had been able to stay for longer periods of time in the Segoku Era so her "other" family hadn't noticed about her... condition.

Inuyasha caught her reaction and hesitated. Kagome was so busy thinking about it that she didn't catch the look that crossed over his face before he turned to walk away from them.

"Inuyasha, wait!" Kagome cried out, stopping him. She didn't want them to think less of her. She didn't want them to act any differently around her. How could they? "Shouldn't we rest for a little bit before sitting down to talk...?" She asked hopefully. He simply looked at her, over his shoulder again, showing her that he thought it was a waste of time effort, then turned away, not saying anything. She waited patiently.

After he had gotten some distance away, he said, "fine."

She smiled gratefully to his back. Miroku was and Sango were already out of sight and she, still dragging her bike, followed in the direction they had gone, Shippou in tow.

As they walked, she listened with half an ear to him as he told her about all the things he and Kaede had done while they were away. He told her how they had colored with her "crayons" and Kaede had helped him make a story with them. He and Kaede had saved the village from a Slug demon, and explained the massive effort of bravery as the detailed the mighty story of how he destryed the demon with his flames. The way he told the story, someone was bound to think the world would have ended, had Shippou not been there...

"And then I used my Fox Fire!" he continued. As they walked, he climbed up and onto her bike seat and sat, looking remarkable familiar, with his legs crossed and his arms in his lap, ramrod straight, his face held high and forward to catch the wind. She couldn't help the warm flood that had broken over her heart.

'What a dear child... ' she thought.

As she walked down the street, if you could call it that, people from the village that were all on they're way home from a long hard days work out in the fields stopped to greet her and welcome her back. It had taken her some time to get over it. She had originally thought it was because she had been mistaken for Kikyo. But as she gradually began to slide into the life of the Sengoku Era, she began to realize that they DID like her, and she had somehow became more friendly, if it were possible, then before.

What made her smile the most, was what they addressed her as. It was always, "Lady Kagome," or "Lady Priestess." That too, had taken some time to get used too, again, for the same reason. But she began to discover that they respected her, liked her, maybe even loved her. It was they're show of respect, and she felt honored every time they said it now. Now, on this visit home, however, it felt strange to hear the words. They almost made her sad.

'I've have never felt happier in any place other then this tiny little village. Here I have a purpose. I have friends. I have acquaintances and maybe even...' she stopped, and Shippou who was still talking stopped speaking and looked at the big maple tree that stood along the road in front of them. He cocked his head ever-so slightly, but remained silent.

An image of Inuyasha flashed in her mind of him standing up straight, his same arrogant look on his face like always. It was the way she had always seen him, strong, dependable, (mostly) and arrogant as hell. He had his hand stretched forward as if she was to place her hand in his and he would pull her up and take her with him wherever and whenever-

'maybe...'

She shook her head harshly, snapping back to reality thinking, 'AS IF!' She noticed the village children heading her way. They were children that had been left alone during the day as the parents worked. They pretty much wandered around the village all day with nothing to do and every time Kagome saw them, her heart jerked. Maybe someday she would set up a daycare here and take care of the children-

Her heart gave a swift and painful THROB.

Either way, she smiled without having to try as the kids came closer. No matter what, she would let her heart have it's full, now. No sense in holding back.

Tears stung her eyes as she kicked the kick stand on her bike. 'No mater what happens, you have your memories.'

This is what she thought as she reached her hands out and hugged the little children to her chest. Dimly she wondered how they had known she was home and that she was on her way home from this road. But she ignored the thought and concentrated on them.

She wanted them to be so happy. But right now, she wasn't even sure of herself at all. She knew at the end of this journey... and right now... She didn't want to think about what could happen to these children. If something happened to these children, she didn't know what she would do.

"CHILDREN!" She gushed, grasping them all in one last hug. Squeezing fiercely, yet still tenderly, she released them. All around little mouths began to flap. She balanced herself on her tip toes to get eyelevel with them, fully aware that Shippou behind her was probably getting jealous. What she didn't notice was what Shippou was REALLY curious as to why Inuyasha would be sitting in a maple tree. It wasn't as tall as some of his favorite trees.

Inuyasha, cleverly hunched over peaking through the masses of Maple leaves watching Kagome, was ALSO confused. He couldn't understand anything it seemed.

'What is this... intensity I feel whenever my eyes happen to glance on her? I can't seem to breath, and it catches in my throat. Why am I so drawn to her that I can't be away from her for ANY length of time??? Why is it...'

He couldn't stop. He watched her open her arms wide and except the dirty little brats from the village. But he couldn't even fool himself this time, he truly didn't see them as that. He just couldn't understand how they could take up so much of his time with her. He watched her smile and laugh, her head tossing back with joy he knew to be true.

THROB.

He looked away, turning away from her sight and jumping from the tree without a sound. He flew through the air, jumping from tree to tree, not really caring where he went...

'Why... why do I run?..."

Kagome stopped talking, the smile falling from her face as she turned to the large maple tree to her right.

'Why do I have this sinking feeling inside my chest?' She studied it. She could have sworn she had felt something strong leave her presence She instantly scanned for a Shikon shard, but found none.

'I wonder what that was all about...' She thought, turning her attention back to the children. She hadn't realized it, but she had spent the last hour of light speaking with the children, and while she enjoyed it, she knew that they're parents wouldn't.

"Children, what a great time I had seeing you all again! How about I come visit all of you guys, each of you, sometime before I leave for next?" She received wide grins all around and slight laughter from the slightly older ones. Excitement plastered over they're features, they turned to leave, heading home. She watched them go in they're separate directions. Oh, how she loved these children. When she turned to start heading back again, she saw that one little girl had not left.

Her name was Maya. As she stepped forward, one tiny balled fist stuck in her mouth, she mumbled, "Yooh Pwaamis?" Kagome couldn't help it, tears stung her eyes. She whooshed forward, grabbing the little girl underneath her arms and standing up, lifted her into the sky. She laughed, a child's innocent laugh, her slobbery fist popping from her mouth as she squealed with joy. She pulled her to her chest and rubbed her face against her fat cheek, and planting a slobbery kiss there, said, "It's a PWAAMIS!"

She sat her back on her feet and watched as she ran, her tiny feet paddling across the dirt. She continued to smile even when Maya disappeared. She had missed this place so much. Her mood was soaring right now. She wondered if she would be happier if the one thing she had lost while in the Sengoku Era was returned to her.

Kagome stopped. An instant ring of purple filling her eyes. Half lidded, she wondered what exactly it was that she had lost here. She had gained so much while here. She never WANTED to leave. But still, she felt like she had lost something her.

It could have been the absence of the completed jewel, after all, it HAD come from HER body. But it couldn't have been that because she had some of the jewel already.

'Maybe...' she thought, biting her knuckles in thought, 'I lost Inuyasha, but then again... I never really had him anyway... He was always Kikyo's and he was never really one to commit to either of them.' And suddenly the feeling left her, as well as the purple glow, filled instead with irritation, she highly considered just going home. Such a mood swing was unaccustomed to her though, so she decided to just head back to the Hut.

She hadn't noticed how late it was. She had taken up A LOT of time. Wasn't she the one who had told Inuyasha that she wanted to REST? And she would not be getting any rest before they had to have "the talk."

'The talk... about me... and what I did...'

She sighed, depleted and suddenly bone weary. She dragged her feet all the way back to Kaede's hut. She moved slowly, and by the time she had gotten back to the hut, bike it tow, Shippou had fallen asleep. Staring at him now, she bit her lip. She knew he would be hurt if she didn't wake him up since he felt like he was excluded already since they had left him this last go around. But she really didn't want him to hear anything bad about her. Not only that, but worrying him wouldn't be good.

'But isn't it better to have him know the story as well? After all, you are the one who wants to know so bad, after everyone else hid the truth from you "for your own good."' Kagome's mental angel said "matter-of-factly.

'What are you talking about. He has a RIGHT to know. Let him know, he's probably scared enough of Inuyasha, he won't be frightened by you!' the mental devil chimed perkily in response.

She shook her head.

'I have to do this on my own. I don't want to disturb him! I don't want him to think less of me. Besides, I can tell him on my own, and then I can omit those harsh details if needed...' Somehow, she knew the omission of details would be essential.

She sighed again and kicked her bike stand AGAIN. She had never been so anxious/apprehensive before ever. Regardless, she stepped into the room.

There was an instant silence as Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha turned to stare at her. Eyes instantly averted gazes and Miroku and Sango had suddenly found something interesting in the ceiling and Inuyasha- he remained staring down at the fire in the middle of the floor. Kaede too, had gone silent, silent as the grave.

Kagome felt the flare of denial first, but it was quickly overwhelmed with the realization that they were TALKING BEHIND HER BACK!

Miroku and Sango twiddled they're thumbs. Somehow, they had known that they're plan on aiding the children as to which direction would fail. They could only hold her up for so long, and this was apparently they're limits.

Kagome STILL couldn't believe her eyes. Here they were, all of them, huddled together like thieves in the night. HOW COULD THEY?

She didn't say anything at first, just her accusing eyes that pierced through all of them, as if they were able to hide from it if they averted they're eyes. "Don't let me spoil the party!" She said bitterly. Despite her most reviled hopes desires, childlike tears sprung to her eyes, "I think I am rested enough for this evening! I'll go for a walk then..." She half yelled, that accusing air still in her voice. Before they could even blink, she was out the door, the flap they're clattering noisily with the force of her haste to get away.

Inuyasha sat pinned. He had been shocked out of his mind when she had entered. When she entered, he was glad, but the hurt and mistrust that had shone in her eyes had set a shiver of guilt down his spine. A moment later, she was out the door. He felt his heart sink down into his extremities and he stood, making his way towards the door. He was stopped as he felt a not so gentle tug on his sleeve.

His first thought was- Kagome, because that was how she always grabbed him, her small, dainty hand clutching the clothe they're. But, when he turned, he saw that it was Miroku who clutched his sleeve in his big, manly hand. The words, "UNHAND ME," rose up to his throat, with more colorful adjectives added to the mix. But the look on Miroku's face had him waiting for him to speak his piece.

"Don't go after her Inuyasha. She..."

Inuyasha shook his arm. He should have known Miroku would try to stop him from following her; he should have just ripped his arm free of his grasp. He turned to walk out the door and almost stepped on Kaede. She stood in front of him, looking up at him leaning on slightly to the right where the most baring was (She is holding her bow in her right hand).

"Inuyasha, if you wish to help Kagome, you have to speak with us first. In order to cure an epidemic, you have to understand it first. What we speak of here should not be said in front of her. It might disturb her heart. The woman is at a hard point here and there is so much that even we cannot understand. Your presence does nothing to calm her heart and she needs all the stability she can get to be able to survive this." Kaede shook her head as if to emphasize how bad that would be if they did that... "if she is to survive..."

"I don't have time for this! It is about her so she should be allowed to listen. MOVE hag!" He said, trying to step to her right. Kaede stepped into his path surprisingly quickly, and Inuyasha just stared at her. With a huff, he sidestepped to avoid her. Behind him he could hear Miroku shaking his head and Sango dumbstruck at his crass tongue. He made it all the way to the door before Kaede spoke again.

"If you got to her now, Inuyasha... She will know that we are speaking of her and you will wound her from it. If you search her out, she will think it is because of guilt and guilt alone that you searched for her!" Inuyasha stopped, his hand poised to lift the flap that served from the door. Scents from the night tumbled into him, as well as the smell of tears. He closed his eyes, a sick feeling in his gut. Then he turned to them and said, "but it IS guilt."

And with that, he disappeared through the door and into the night.

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**End Of Chapter Author Commentary:**

Started: 6/27/04

Finished: 7/1/04

Revised: 7/12/04

Revised: 7/31/04

-Luky


	6. A Meeting Made Under the Maple Tree

Thanks for all those reviews! I have but one thing to say and that is: Enjoy.

-Luky

**Chapter Six**

A Moment Made Under the Maple Tree

There was an infinite level of silence that ensued at Inuyasha's absence. Nobody spoke a word. They had watched him leave, and now, it was just them to discuss this important matter. This, they all knew, would be a night of unbreakable silences. It was going to be very important in some way, but nobody in the room wanted to talk about it. Least of all the three remaining around the campfire.

Miroku and Sango both looked semi-relieved. Both of them felt extremely guilty about talking behind Kagome's back and were sad that she had had to find out in such a way. Right now, they knew, she was feeling very betrayed. Neither of them were openly glad about her finding out, but were secretly glad that they had been discovered. If she hadn't come in when she had, they would probably be talking about her- and then what? They're guilt would cause them to not be able to look into her eyes. Just as it had happened when they kept the secret from her a week before… There was only so many obstacles a person could avoid before tripping.

It was Kaede who first moved and they were both glad, once again, not ready to make the first move. She turned to address them, her old features set in a permanent frown, "It seems that Inuyasha worries too… His sheer disregard of the situation and everything concerning it is evidence enough of his concern…" She moved towards the fire, her old feet dragging softly across the ground, her limp more evident then ever. Even with her bow helping her, she still had difficulty moving around. She tried to hide it, but when she sat down, her bottom hit the ground faster then it would have, had her leg been normal.

"Yes… it does appear to me that Inuyasha worries. But is the right kind of worry? Kagome doesn't need an another concern to trouble her and Inuyasha is quit obviously going to stress her…" Miroku caught Sango's glare and cleared his throat, continuing in a softer tone then before, "someone like Inuyasha making her worry more, not to mention they fight a lot more now." he looked over at Sango, but she shook her head at him.

"I know Kagome would be able to handle phenomenon if Inuyasha only helped her. She loves him…" Sango muttered the last part too softly for the others to hear. It was more of an afterthought anyway and she wasn't one to go around blabbing secrets… Even if everyone knew them.

"That's true. But in what way can he help her? We all know about Inuyasha's character. Even still, if you take into consideration that Kagome has deep feelings for Inuyasha, his presence alone should have been enough to help her, if only for moral support." He stopped, thinking, considering before saying, "And I think, had Inuyasha not been there with Kagome in the clearing that night, she would have stayed normal."

"But he was there, remember, Miroku? Inuyasha told us that she changed while they were fighting. She was with him the whole time." Sango reasoned. She had a deep gut feeling that it was a bit more then they thought it to be…

"Ah, your right. But how can we rule out Inuyasha's role in her transformation back to normal? I watched it myself, it was uncanny…" he remembered--

_--Inuyasha's zombie-like body walking forward, grasping the sword, and then the two voices rising into the air calling each other's names--_

"Miroku?" Sango asked, a hand on his shoulder. He shook his head at her, having been caught up in that memory…

"I'm sorry, where are we?" he asked, "oh yes. We can't rule out Inuyasha's role. Whatever happened to her was both mental and physical, yet… Even through all that, she remained conscious of her surroundings, had to of, because there would have been no reaching her, no way of bringing her back, even if it was Inuyasha who was speaking to her. She had to have at least been partially aware, because I fear the outcome would have been much different if she had not been, in some way or another, in control." Miroku finished.

"I understand what you are saying, but I think it was more physical then anything else. We have to remember what happened with Tetsugaiga…" Sango trailed of, remembering how the sword had stuck in the barrier and had not been repelled, "Whatever it was… it had the ability to manipulate her body, move it on it's own, utilize the full extant of her powers… Not to mention the surge of power that she caused when she returned to normal," Sango shuddered, "It lit up the sky and burned me, with it's light alone…" she unconsciously rubbed her back, very aware that the pain was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

"Whatever it was that had control of her… Inuyasha had to of been the key factor. It triggered something in her, made her fight back, gain control, and come back to him." Sango looked down at her lap, where her hands were folded neatly, and heard Miroku say, "It makes me wonder… what would have happened had Inuyasha not been there at all?"

"Then again, you could say that he was physically there, but hat he mentally and intellectually wasn't there. Inuyasha seems to lapse deeper and deeper into thought all the time. It's not healthy…" Miroku shook his head in disdain. Even the IDEA that Inuyasha thought above Naraku, Demon, Kikyo, and to kill Koga, was implausible. "And his attitude has gotten to a point where nobody likes to be around him. We can't figure him out half the time…" Miroku looked to Sango to finish, "It's like he is in his own little world now days. Maybe it was the cause of some outside force and her desire to be able to be close to Inuyasha, like before she split the jewel again, that caused the incident. Not to mention, he was human that night. That too could have a direct effect on how she thinks/feels about him…" Sango explained, displaying her hands palm up as if to say, "I have nothing left to share."

Kaede sighed. "As far as Inuyasha being off in his own world, I couldn't agree more. However, there is nothing, I am afraid to say, that we, including Kagome, can do about it." She paused, letting that fact sink in before continuing.

Kaede spoke up, sadly, "Inuyasha is reluctant, again, it seems. I daresay that his reason for this level of recent objectivity is because of his overwhelming feel of protectiveness for Kagome."

"Yes. And Inuyasha is the kind of guy who holds things at a distance. It must be hard for Kagome. While he does hold them far away, his grasp is still firm. It doesn't allow for people, especially Kagome, to get close to him. Not to mention how anxious he must feel. Whatever is happening to Kagome, he too, wants it to stop, or at least for an answer to be found as to why it hap-" Miroku was cut off by Sango as she spoke again.

"That's not true- we all know Inuyasha, he would much rather be able to beat at it with his claws. That is why it would be dangerous to have him in the same room as Kagome when we explain things. He is too rash, and much too unpredictable. We can't expect for him to be exactly sensitive to Kagome's feelings. We already know how he has been treating her lately…" Sango didn't add all the times she had heard Kagome crying- she didn't mention all the sad looks and apprehensive looks she gave him. However one thing that Sango did notice, was the same exact looks that Inuyasha gave Kagome when neither of them were looking. Deep down, she knew what he felt. She just didn't want to admit it out loud. It might mean many things, those looks, and if she spoke up it would feel like she was violating Kagome's privacy.

"Well, whatever the case or situation, he is the key to keeping Kagome in a safe, normal condition. I of course, still think he should be here, regardless of the situation, he still does care, he just has the cruelest ways of showing it…" she muttered, massaging her arms up and down. She was as uncertain and unknowledgeable as the others. It was like grasping at straws or weeds for lifelines. How could they ascertain the severity of the situation, with so many different possibilities?

Wordlessly, Sango look over in Miroku's direction, who was also looking back at her, the same thing obviously on they're minds. It was something in the eyes that said something that they could not. It was a look of such keen understanding, that even they didn't understand the deepness of they're bonds. Besides, was it fair of them to think it? To think of that? It had to be true. There was no other answer, they're eyes said, to Inuyasha's distance, other than this. With just one look, they had expressed all that they could without words.

"I see that you two have come up with the same conclusion as I have." They turned at the same time to look at Kaede, who was gently stirring the pot in front of them. What was to be dinner, resembled nothing remotely like soup.

"When Inuyasha found himself with feelings for my sister, Kikyo, he was confused and uncertain of how to proceed. So he watched her and unlike his character, observed her. It took Kikyo herself to throw up the idea of humanity to him, for her, for them, and then it was up for Inuyasha to make the first decision, the first step. Then, because of the evil that Naraku had caused…" she trailed off, everyone in the tiny hut were solemn, "He was as close to total rejection as a person can come and even if he has forgiven her, and Kikyo him, he cannot erase the pain that 50 years of sleep preserved and manifested inside of his heart. He may be physically strong, but he is exactly like the rest of us when it comes to trails of the heart, maybe weaker even."

Kaede stopped speaking for a moment. It had to be the night air, the new chill that would be coming with winter that had her bones aching. She ignored the pain, and continued, saddened by the terrible turn of events, even though she knew that it was four years ago… for an older woman like herself, the pain was still fresh, "No… After that terrible and fateful hardship, Inuyasha will not make the first step. His wounds are too deep and the years too long…" Sango was hanging on her every word.

"This time, I fear the case will be the exact opposite. I believe that he is purposely distancing himself, maybe even lying to himself about his feelings for Kagome. It doesn't help that somewhere deep inside he knows that she would accept him if he only acknowledged those feelings. But, alas, Inuyasha will not accept her until he can fully accept himself. As it stands now, they're relationship is not going anywhere- at least from what we know.

"Still, Inuyasha is not one to let Kagome get hurt, regardless if it is simply his feelings of protectiveness or something more… He will protect her, this I am certain." She finished, looking out of the window along the front side of her hut. It was dark outside, the moon was out, and it was enough to brighten the sky. She did not miss the tears in the smiling eyes of the moon's pale face. It only saddened her more. What a terrible game it was to be brought into the fate of those who were linked to the Shikon Jewel. How many years had this been happening? Where had the time gone? Was she really coming on in her years, or was she just weary of her battles with demons?… She didn't know the answer to that- and didn't care to ponder it at the moment.

"I do believe that Inuyasha will be coming out of his shell, and soon. He can't stay locked inside himself forever, holding everything arms length away from him. Besides," she looked at the two people across from her, who resembled so closely a couple and said, "I believe the change in Kagome is not something he can grasp with his hand or slash with his claws… Once he realizes that he can't help her by fighting her foes with his claws, he will simply wish to be by her side."

Kaede looked again to the window, this time, disregarding the ill omen of the moon- to what laid behind it- the sunlight of the morning, the future. "He already does…" she said wistfully, her old features turning into something that looked like a smile…

Sango, as a woman, understood completely. Miroku understood as a man, completely. Inuyasha had already lost Kikyo, the first woman he had cared deeply for. Now, with the second, her fated reincarnation, he would not want to lose her, even if it meant dealing with the pain of rejection again, just by getting close to her.

Sango smiled, a faint smile that showed exactly the amount of years she had lived, and the woman beneath her face. As she did, her hand slowly dropped from her lap onto the floor. She, as the other hand came around hers to intertwine fingers, looked out the window to what she knew Kaede saw as the light of the future. Her fingers tightly clasped in the hand of the man she loved, she felt as if they, Kagome and Inuyasha, could fight any foe and overcome any fear. They would be together, she knew it, and smiled, content to let fate play it's cards and see what was in store for them.

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To say that Kagome was mad- was an understatement. Then again, to say she could remain completely pissed off, was just short of a lie. In fact, at the moment, her steam had evaporated, leaving her worn out. All she really wanted right now, was a warm bath and some sleep to help clear her head. The thought of returning home tonight, even though it was very late, and abandoning the Feudal Era for a week was almost too appealing. No sooner had the idea come to mind, did she realize that if she had really wanted to go home, she would have been walking in that direction. And she wasn't heading towards the well.

She didn't realize it then, but walking the streets of Kaede's Village was just as good, if not better, then going home. Here she had family, and in the Present Day Japan, she had family too. It just seemed like, these people, needed her more… But this wasnt a reason to wander the dark streets at night-- anger was.

'No way! How could I run away like that? It was the most childish thing I have ever done! Aren't I supposed to be mature, and act civil? It's not like it was for sure that they were talking ill of me… they are all just worried. Yeah! We do it to Inuyasha all the time… yeah! Right…'

The Four of them, huddled close, they're voices soft, whispering. Then the silence that came after they realized she had arrived.

She shook her head, and was satisfied when she saw a rock on the ground nearby and succeeded in kicking it across the road. When she looked up, she found herself sitting underneath the maple tree she had seen earlier. She didn't need anybody to give her permission, to tell her it was okay to act uncivil, she was alone- the rest of her "friends" had shown her just that. She defiantly, although it was a ridiculous thing to feel defiant about, plopped onto the ground at the trees base, feeling like a spoiled brat. Regardless, the sense of betrayal was not eased.

She wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her chin on her arms. Her eyes were sad as she tried to remember a time when she had felt so left out. It wasn't like in battle she was left out- in fact, she was vital for one reason or another. Inuyasha lead them, always, and she trusted his abilities quite well. No, not in battle. She never felt like this, not even on those times when she knew exactly what Inuyasha was thinking of when he looked at her, knew which woman he smiled at when his eyes laid on hers, knew that he was thinking about Kikyo, and Kikyo alone.

'I can't believe…' she thought, forcing herself to think about what had just happened and not on the depressed events of the past, 'and they were doing it in secret too! As if I would have been this hurt if they hadn't tried to hide it from me!' She could remember only one time, other then all the other times with Kikyo, that she had felt like this--

_--Running through the cold rain, nothing but the black sky for her company… Screaming… Running… she couldn't breath but knew that if she stopped--_

She felt the emptiness building within her. She knew that it was unhealthy to think of things like that, that it would only make her sad, but she couldn't help it. A sweeping heat filled her flesh and caused her eyelids to droop over her eyes, a purple ring already forming. This time, she didn't even try to fight the sensations, her mood was so lousy that she really didn't care. One thing confused her though: Since when had her emotions become so irrational?

She was shocked, from her transformation, when the sound of someone plopping on the other side of the her. The purple faded like it had never come. She didn't even realize what had happened, only knew that there was someone next to her. She knew after only a second who it was. She didn't need to turn and look to see Inuyasha sitting there.

Part of her was glad, and that as the part that had her breath catching in her lungs and the other part was the one that had the tears welling in her eyes.

"Kagome?"

She was brought back to reality in an instant. She remembered why she was sitting underneath a maple tree, in the dark and was currently feeling very lonely.

"We weren't talking bad about you-"

She couldn't help it, she exploded, rage in her voice and pain in her eyes, "So then why were you guys having a secret Pow Wow without me?! It's not like I would have been mad if it wasn't a secret about what happened! If you guys had just told me what I did then talk about me, behind my back, then I wouldn't be sitting here in the dark confused as to what is happening to ME!" The tears that had gathered in her eyes were blinked away and her lip was trembling uncontrollably.

She bit down on it, hard, and turned away, returning to her earlier position feeling depleted, not really understanding where the strange outburst had come from, or why for that matter.

"Guilty, Inuyasha?" She asked. Knowing Inuyasha, he wouldn't have given it a second thought. He had tried for all these years to feel indifferent, it was good to know he was finally succeeding at something-

"Yes."

She turned to him, her face still devoid of emotion and saw that he was looking straight at her. His eyes. They were on HER. Inside she glowed, but outwardly she just looked at him. In those eyes, she could see that he wasn't lying. It was the eyes she had always wished to be on her, and her alone. It seemed she was getting her wish, but she didn't feel happy about it. They were sorrowful eyes. No matter how angry she was at him, she wanted those eyes to smile.

She turned away, looking up into the sky, at the teary eyes of the moon, the teary, smiling, eyes…

"If you could tell me, Inuyasha, what it was that I did? Will you tell me? I need to know… Before I go back… I need to know how the wounds you sustained came from me. I need to KNOW."

And he began to speak. He started from where he had left that night to go think outside of the forest. He did not mention why he needed to go outside the forest which was to think, and he didn't have to tell her what he had been thinking of- that was for him and him alone. He explained the demon Marlboro.

When he got to the part about the poisonous spines, he looked over to her. One hand was lightly trailing along her cheek. They didn't have mirrors here, she rarely saw her image unless she was back in her time and so she had not seen the scar. But she could feel it and wasn't surprised that it was just a tiny line that was about an inch and a half long. He couldn't help fisting his hand as he continued on, thinking about another of his failures as her protector.

He continued with the rest of the battle, her paralysis and all that happened afterwards. When he was finished relating what happened and turned to look at Kagome, for a reaction, he saw her sitting, resting her head, which was tilted to the side thoughtfully. He was had the sudden urge to smile because she didn't seem to be sad anymore. He couldn't help the softening of his features this time, it was almost natural.

Kagome was caught up in the memories she had of what happened and what Inuyasha had told her. Together, with his information and her intuitiveness, she was able to piece together the broken bits of memory she had. In fact, she was able to remember everything up until she saw him change back into a hanyou.

"We were discussing the different things that could have happened. We figured it had to have a connection to something. We want to figure out how to prevent these attacks," but that wasn't true. THEY hadn't mentioned it but IT was on HIS mind the whole time. He looked at her and saw that she was relaxed, that was good, and her features were glazed as she remembered more and more of what had happened. She was there, one knee brought up to her chest, her other leg stretched out and turned in at the knee. Her arm was hooked around her leg and she was leaning forward, with only one hand bracing her.

"Beautiful…"

He didn't say anything, but he was speechless. Had he really just sighed that, AGAIN? He looked around and didn't see anyone. Kagome hadn't heard, or was ignoring him. He gave a sigh of relief.

She could remember the feeling of ice sweeping down her body, being paralyzed. She remembered running and firing an arrow at Inuyasha to give him LIGHT. What scared her the most was the Black. She remembered the blackness most of all, the suffocation that she suffered while in it. She was getting scared again, a creepy sensation sweeping down her neck. She called out- called out- she wanted to see Inuyasha! Why wasn't he with her?!

"We were- I was worried, about you." Kagome turned to look at him, shocked at his admission. He wasn't looking at her, was that a good thing?

She felt herself echoing words spoken in the past, "You were worried about me?!" Kagome turned to look at him, the same look on her face that he had admired before. They're eyes held, caught and for a breath, they knew what the other was thinking. Flustered, they both turned away finding something interesting to either sides of each other.

After a bit of silence Kagome spoke, "Inuyasha, thank you."

He asked the air in front of him, his arrogant mask was already back on, "For what?"

She smiled faintly at the ground. She didn't know how, but it was him. She hadn't known it before, but it was Inuyasha who had rescued her from that black place of loneliness. He had gave his all to save her. He had given up his courage, Tetsugaiga, to lend her the strength it gave him, to save her. She knew this and loved him even more for it…

"for being here for me…" He turned to stare at her bewildered. After what seemed like ages, but was only a second or two his face contorted to it's normal sneer, "Keh, I have to don't I? We don't have all the jewel shards yet, now do we?" and with this began to stand.

Kagome smiled and watched him stand his hand held out to her. He looked like heaven. The moonlight spilled over his figure and cast him in light and dark that was alluring. His cocky smile made her nod happily, her eyes and smile true and filled with her love for him, and reaching her hand she placed hers in his.

He pulled her to her feet, her hand still in his. She didn't catch the pause as he circled around her, leaning close to sniff her scent, nor did he, but the guilt he felt was almost completely erased. They started to walk back, both of them realizing after a second that they were still holding hands.

Neither let go.

But Inuyasha spoke, "So, Kagome, I don't need to feel guilty anymore?" he asked, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. She stopped, his hand dropped from hers and it instantly tensed. Her smile was eerie as she put her arms behind her back, leaned forward and with a brilliant curl of her lips said, "SIT boy!"

SLAM!

"Not anymore!!!" She called, running forward without him, leaving Inuyasha twitching on the ground.

_"NOW WAIT Kagome!"

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**End of Chapter Author Commentray:**

**There is no revision information for this chapter.**

Now I am hoping that you will go check out my **DEVIANT Account on Deviant - ART - . - COM (LUKYLADY123)**

_-Luky_


	7. Deliberations of The Minds

_I want to thank everyone for their reviews!!! I promise that this will be a chapter you will love AND hate!!!_

_-Luky_

**Chapter Seven **

Deliberations of the Mind

Sango and Miroku were resting; a bowl filled with what was allegedly soup steaming on the floor in front of them. They were side by side, Sango's posture remained rigid and Miroku's was relaxed. Directly across from them sat Kaede, her face contorted into a serious frown, as she watched them eat.

It was obvious that the conversation they were going to have was on all of their minds. They were going to discuss almost everything when Inuyasha returned, with Kagome of course. And the hut was virtually silent with exception of the sounds of sipping of "dinner," which consisted of a soup that was thick like paste with a filmy looking broth.

Sango closed her eyes in Kaede's defense. She hadn't asked what they thought and Sango was certain she saw a warted hog rat's carcass in the corner by the rest of the disposables. She gave a mental shudder but remained silent and "blissfully" drinking her soup, if you could call it that. In actuality, she didn't eat any of it. Using her poison testing knowledge, she touched her tongue to the tip of it. She decided early on that it was inedible. She would blow softly on the edge to create the sound of slurping. (Slurping was apparently considered a complement in some places, so it will be a complement in here!)

She mentally sighed; her exasperation at having to "eat" such foul food was turning her stomach over. Just the thought that Kaede thought she was eating it was enough to have her stomach twisting into knots.

'Where are those two...?'

She stopped thinking then, and just let the silence of the room fill her mind. She relaxed, despite herself, and actually took her eyes of Miroku for a moment. She was just making sure that he didn't try anything funny in front of the older lady, Kaede. That was the reason for watching him from the corner of her eye.

Regardless though, she really did lo- like him. It was his lecherous ways that killed him! How could she be with someone like him and feel secure? It was true that she wanted to kill Naraku, now, more then ever, but she had to also think of what she would do afterwards. It was likely that she would stay with them, with Miroku, when everything was over...

SLURP.

Sango blinked, and turned to stare at Miroku, incredulous.

'The master con! He's actually eating it!?!' Her mouth dropped open in shock as she watched him slurp it again.

He kept his happy eyes up as he continued to sip. She watched as he placed the bowl on the ground before them, his happy eyes lowering to his normal eyes as he said, "Kaede! This is delicious! Can I have a second helping?!"

Sango felt her stomach FLIP over. "You're actually eating that stuff, Miroku?!?!?!"

As he reached for a second helping Sango turned, blue lines dripping from her eyes and caught the withering glare of Kaede as she responded with, "Is there something wrong with my cooking?" Sango desperately wished that she hadn't said anything- and waved her hands in front of her, "Not at all Kaede!!!!" denying that she despised the food herself.

She reached down and grabbed her bowl. She lifted it to her lips and drained it. She felt pieces of what she PRAYED was meat slide down her throat like snot. She finished with a loud gulp and slammed the bowl down. She was breathing heavily now, and she didn't even try to wipe away the broth that dribbled down her chin.

'Triumphing against my greatest foe! Kaede's cooking!' She mentally cheered.

Kaede was staring at her, the same look on her face. Miroku was questioningly gazing at her as well. She felt something inside her lurch and quiver. She shook for a moment and let it register what she had just done. Then came the sensation of the churning of her stomach.

She was up and out of the door before they could catch a glimpse of her face turning blue. She fell to her knees outside and blissfully surrendered the meal she had just eaten to the ground outside.

Moments later, she was back inside again. Silence ensued as Miroku continued to eat slowly. Sango sat with her hands folded in her lap, and quietly looked down. If she looked up, she knew Kaede's eyes would be fixed upon her, and if she saw that pot of soup... She could smell the sour smell of it as it wafted to her nose. She silently gagged, but otherwise remained motionless. She wasn't going to eat any more of Kaede's cooking, even if she starved...

This time, she didn't think about anything really. Miroku didn't cross her mind or anything. She was just filled with that one resolve- To never eat Kaede's cooking... _ever_... _ever_... _EVER_... _AGAIN!!!_

She was interrupted by Miroku as he said, "Inuyasha sure does take his time with her..."

It took a moment before Sango's mind was onto the subject again. She must have muddled the words a bit because she gasped; shock and outrage evident on her face. She twisted violently around, her face an inch away from his. "Kagome-Chan would NEVER!"

Miroku looked at her, turning his face slightly, "But they have been gone for some time... What else could be going on?" His bowl was still in his hands, and she could smell it in his bowl. She reined back another painful gag. She was raising her fist, almost by instinct, and was about to smack him into the other side of the hut when he spoke.

"It's not like with you and me. I am usu-" her eyes bulged and she choked without drinking anything, "-ally quick about it- I get the job done fas-" She screamed in sheer rage, a blush evident across her entire body, including her hands- "WE DON'T NEED TO DISCUSS THIS HERE!!!"

He continued, blissfully happy, as if he was just talking about something normal! Honestly! Since when had he EVER been so- so... SO MUCH OF A HENTAI?!

Kaede quirked a brow.

... "You're usually the one who holds out for long periods of time... I don't know what I can do to satisfy you anymo-"

Sango smacked Miroku on the back of the head. He went face first into the steaming kettle before them; spilling the contents over the side and making it splash against Sango's Kimono. She shrieked, jerking away from it.

"HENTAI!" She screamed, half slapping half punching him on the back. She could believe he was THIS audacious! To talk about such persona-

"What are you doing? He is only talking of Inuyasha's ability to converse on a calm level with Kagome- to apologize. What could you possibly think he meant?" Kaede asked. One thing about Kaede, she was not dumb. She knew FULL WELL what Sango was referring to. She didn't acknowledge or make herself known. She knew when the time was right, everything would be made clear.

Miroku sat up, wiping the broth from his face with his big sleeve. He cleared his throat and did the only thing he shouldn't have done-

Laughed.

What happened next was a bit too violent for a rated R fan fiction. Hehe... that's putting it nicely...

Fireballs were shooting from her eyes as Sango strangled Miroku. His hand was resting on her lap, as his hand was previously touching a more sensitive area then her bottom, a bit higher then her bottom- about right below her neck. He was gurgling incoherently- but Sango didn't care. Kaede was frantic yet remained still, holding onto her dignity, trying to tell Sango to let go of him.

"You wanna DIE MIRO-" as she felt his fingers twitch once. She tightened her grip, prepared to crush his larynx if he even moved incorrectly. Her thoughts of Miroku's sheer death were interrupted, however, by the sound of a disturbance outside.

Everyone stopped. Eyes swivelled to the door flap, from where a loud commotion could be heard. Sango was still straddling Miroku's chest, her hands still gripping his neck, although the grip was relaxed. They all listened intently to what was certain to be...

"OI! Kagome! WHAT THE HELL!" Came a loud cry, easily recognized as Inuyasha's angry growl.

"YOU DESERVED IT FOR EARLIER, OR DID YOU FORGET?!?!" came Kagome's cry, closer then Inuyasha's had been.

There was the sound of quick rustling then a soft thump as something landed in front of the door flap. It fluttered away from the doorframe and showed a quick glimpse of red cloth through the brief lining on the side.

Then Inuyasha's voice came, much closer this time then before, right outside the door in fact and said: "You're not getting in here until you tell me what I DESERVED THAT FOR!" From his voice alone they could tell that he was pissed off. Kaede knew that voice well, and Miroku and Sango knew it even better. They all simultaneously thought at the same time, 'Watch your tone Inuyasha...'

They could hear Kagome as she stalked closer- could almost feel the fires burning in her eyes- and three people shuddered. Two of them didn't have to see the scene to feel fear race up their spines. The other didn't either but was blessed, or cursed it would seem, to be able to see her stalk forward. Even then, the shudder was ignored because the mind was occupied with the body- preparing it for what was surely meant to come.

"You're really trying my patience! Inuyasha! GET-OUT-OF-MY-WAY!" Came Kagome's angry bellowed. They knew what was coming next. From what they could tell, Inuyasha had jumped over Kagome and now stood in front of the door blocking her entrance. And judging by their subtle hints at something he deserved earlier that he just got- they knew he had been sat.

The air outside the door had suddenly become very quiet. After a short moment of breath holding and tenseness, the soft pad of footfalls could be heard. From the moving person came a low growl, "Inuyasha..."

They watched as the tent flap was pushed aside as only Inuyasha, you couldn't have mistaken that bright red for anything else, backed up, all fierceness gone from his figure. Everyone inside the hut was staring wide eyed at the door. The footsteps sound stopped, and they heard Inuyasha's quivering voice, trying to show indifference "What?!?!?"

"Inuyasha... OSUWARI!!!"

He was instantly slammed into the ground at the same time a short scream came from Kagome. Everyone clambered to their feet inside the hut and rushed to the door they, in a flurry of motion, thrust the flap aside.

Sango gasped. In front of them lay Inuyasha. He was in his normal "Sit" position, but with only one major malfunction, one abnormality- He was sprawled on the ground, true. But it was more important to know on WHAT he was sprawled.

Somehow, during the sit experience, Inuyasha had grabbed Kagome. They fell together, apparently, and Kagome had somehow ended up underneath of him. Her arms were out, her body was in the shape of a T, with her legs out like an upside down V. Inuyasha's hands were placed on either side of her head, his face furiously lodged directly in the middle of her chest. Her eyes were spinning as Inuyasha's full weight had been slammed onto her.

It surely was a sight that would have surprised many.

To everyone's right Shippou was stirring. Miroku, Sango and the wide eyed Kaede watched in horror as he sat up on the bike seat and looked around. He rubbed at his eyes, which were probably blurred from sleep. He focused on Inuyasha; his big mound of hair flailed over his back, and passed over him as if he didn't exist at all. Only when it registered, and everyone, minus Inuyasha, saw when it registered, that Kagome was underneath of him, did he react.

As Shippou began to scream, Inuyasha began to stir. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Kagome's face not even an inch away from his. He reacted violently, placing his hands firmly on either side of her head, forcing his upper body to move. He didn't have to turn to look to know that the others had come out to investigate the disturbance. He couldn't believe this had happened. He thought he was being nice and she had to SIT him for it! This would be the LAST time he confessed something- EVER!

Just then, as Inuyasha was lifting his upper body from off of Kagome's body, the lower part of his body still numb and therefore useless, Shippou jumped from the bike screaming, "How dare you do that to Kagome!" and was tackled by Miroku in mid-air. And to top it all off, Kagome's eyes fluttered open, the spinning swirls gone.

Inuyasha blinked, staring directly in her eyes. She didn't recognize immediately either. It took her one try to move and then she realized too, that Inuyasha was ON TOP OF HER. Her eyes bulged. Two new shades of red were invented as, with a cry, Kagome forced Inuyasha off of her with a vicious kick and a thrust of her arms from the ground. She sat up huffing and gasping for breath. She looked over to Inuyasha, clutching her chest, panting. He lay on top of Miroku now, a few feet away, both of their eyes spinning. With an angry cry she stood up and walked into the hut, passing a stunned and very frightened Sango and Kaede on the way.

About an hour later, they were all once again inside the hut. Everyone was there. Shippou had gone inside, after beating at Inuyasha's limp body for some time, and was now resting In Kagome's lap. Kirara, who Kagome hadn't greeted yet, was curled up in a tiny ball in the corner.

The potluck soup was untouched. Kagome had learned that the soup had had Miroku's face in it. That was enough to spoil her appetite.

Miroku and Sango were once again side by side. The five of them: Miroku, Kaede, Sango and Kagome, with Shippou in her lap, formed a circle around the fire and the pot of steaming warted hog rat soup. Inuyasha was in a corner, sulking. He REFUSED to apologize this time- he wasn't guilty for anything. It was her fault that she had sat him; it was only natural for him to grab her on the way down. How dare she sit him? She should apologize.

Kagome was thinking thoughts completely different, obviously. She couldn't believe Inuyasha had done something as indecent like that. She mildly mused that he had been spending too much time with Miroku. That HAD to be the cause of his lecherous ways, she still couldn't wipe away the small glow she felt inside her at the thought that maybe- She shook her head quickly, shocked by her thoughts.

Everyone was silent. The graveness of the room was like an actual substance. It filled the room and blocked out the rest of the world- for now. They all knew what was going to be discussed, just none of them wanted to talk about it.

Kagome looked down at her lap. She was glad that she had been able to calm Shippou down. He was near hysterical when he saw Inuyasha on top of her. She didn't want to think about what that meant for her if she and Inuyasha EVER got the chance to be... close like she wanted to be... She didn't want to have to hope right now, about her future with him- Inuyasha- and didn't think she could imagine anything right now, other then the conversation she had been dreading for a long time.

"I think he's asleep..." she said, looking down at her lap. She had been petting him, absently ruffling his fur. She couldn't believe the fondness that she felt for him. 'It is so strong.' she thought, as she picked him up in her arms, cuddling him, and walked over to her sleeping bag. She laid him there. Pulling at a sheet that had been cleverly tucked in so that it wouldn't come out, sort of like the tissue boxes in her home time, only this worked, and let it fall against his small frame. He twisted in his sleep, his hand curling lightly around the sheet, and she leaned down to kiss his forehead. She heard him mumble something, and she leaned closer to listen to what he was saying.

She didn't know it, but a pair of eyes were watching her intently, mesmerized. They took in every movement, every twitch and every throb of a pulse in her gentle neck. They watched as she tucked the child into bed and leaned closer to kiss him once, on top of the head.

Her eyes blurred when she heard the soft words from the young child. Tears moistened her eyes. She stood up, defiant again. She was mentally preparing herself for what was to come next.

"_Mother..." _he had said.

'That's right. Shippou needs me. We are all he has left. I will protect your life with all I have- even if I'm the one I must protect you from.' No matter what. She had to live- to understand what was happening to her. She loved this child and even though she had been only a child herself when he had first come under her care, they had both grown to love and cherish each other. She would be here for this child, if nothing else. And she would understand exactly what was wrong with her.

When she turned back to the steaming pot of soup, and the rest of her friends, including the man she cared for- there was a fire in her eyes that had died in the past few months. Each and every one of the people in the room noticed. It was her, the determined girl who had come from the well before, who wanted nothing but the continued life of her friends- and the happiness of the man she loved.

That fire, that passion- It was back- and it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She had to stop being weak, for Shippou, for her friends, and for herself. She stepped forward, fully aware that all eyes were on her and sat down in her previous spot and with a short nod, her eyes glancing off in Inuyasha's direction, "Let's begin ."

The full story, from start to finish, had been told to Kagome- of how her powers had gone rogue the week before, by Inuyasha. Something in his words- the way he spoke- made her more comfortable. At the time, she was just trying to take in everything so that she could piece the fragments of her memory together again. She wasn't able to fully comprehend the horrifying truth that she had almost killed the man she loved. 

Now, hearing everything retold, this time to Kaede, she was appalled. Had that really been her? She shivered, they weren't holding back. Miroku and Sango did their best to retell the story as accurately as possible. She knew that she had hurt them- physically and mentally- but to what extent? To what deep place did she touch them, frightening them enough that they would fear her? She felt something akin to cold, squirming worms writhing around in her stomach. It didn't help her any to hear Miroku say how she had eerily awoken, as if she had been merely dreaming- and then screamed when she had found Inuyasha- bloodied and beaten.

Regardless of the shock value, after they finished everyone was silent again. Kagome was stricken with the knowledge that it was not a nightmare, or a dream. She couldn't just wake up- it had really happened. There was nothing they could do about what happened a week ago- all they could do was try to understand how, or why, it happened. Was future prevention of a situation of the same caliber possible? All they could do was speculate.

"So... all along... it was me who had caused Inuyasha and Sango's injuries?" she asked, her voice soft and her eyes hidden by her long bangs. Listening to it- being told for the second time how her mindless moment of power had almost killed her lo- Inuyasha... Hearing it again meant it was even harder to deny the incident in her mind and simply say, "What a joke- what are you talking about? Me? Hurt Inuyasha? Ha!!!" It was easier to deny- and would have been- had it not been for three different people with the same story.

Inuyasha watched her from the side of his eyes- probing her figure- refusing to believe that she was going to break down after HE had told her everything that had been said before now. If she broke down- which he didn't think she would, then she wasn't as strong as he thought she was...

Kagome slammed her fist into the ground between her crossed legs. She looked up, her eyes visible again; their surprised faces focused on her and with conviction declared, "Miroku! Let's lay out the facts! Let's figure out everything that we know from the beginning to the end! I want to understand what is happening to me so I can stop myself the next time something like this happens!" She looked down at her fist, her splayed fingers on the ground and trembled, a wave of heat sweeping over her.

Miroku watched her, intrigued by her outburst and her outward physical state. It was then that the facts began to come- "Are you hot, Kagome? I see you're sweating a bit more then usual." He asked, deliberately emphasizing "usual." He found it decidedly _unusual _that she would be sweating at a time like this- summer was ending... There was only one answer.

Kagome stopped mid-head rub and looked at him, surprised. She answered weakly, "Yes."

Inuyasha watched from his position against the wall as Miroku stood up and made his way towards Kagome. He came closer to her, standing over her, between the flame and himself. With his back to the flame, and his body in Inuyasha's direction, he reached down and placed a hand on her forehead. His hand immediately jerked back and was placed against his own head, testing what Inuyasha thought to be her temperature. He didn't need Miroku telling him about HIS Kagome. What he wanted to know was why Kagome looked up at him so- and why Miroku had seen fit to place his hands on her as if she was HIS, which she wasn't.

"It appears to me that Kagome is sick..." he trailed as he took his position on the ground next to Kagome. Inuyasha couldn't help but clench his fist. 'What the HELL is Miroku thinking?' Inuyasha thought, feeling more spite than he should have considering the situation. They were here to learn about Kagome's... problem... But he didn't care to think about it- he just wanted it to stop, and stop now. Miroku's back was to Inuyasha, so he didn't see his fist clench on the hilt of his sword.

"I'm sick? Maybe..." Kagome said, all eyes on her as she wiped at her forehead. It would explain why she was always hot and stuff- but otherwise- how could it affect her losing her control? She couldn't stand their strange looks as their eyes pierced through her, taking in her every action. She looked at Miroku, waiting for him to continue but when he didn't speak up immediately Kaede continued for him.

"Kagome, child, do you feel fatigue sometimes, when you shouldn't? Weak? Anything that would be considered strange for you?" Kagome thought about it for a moment. She could remember that she had been like this for awhile- since Naraku- and that it was pretty much normal.

But it hadn't always been normal for her. She could remember all the times that Inuyasha had tried waking her up, only for her to get out of bed, barely functional, Inuyasha complaining about not getting enough jewel shards because she had over slept, yet again. The hazy feelings, the sweeping sensation of fever- these were not normal- had never been. She realized it after she thought for a moment and said-

"Yes! I sometimes get all tired and everything becomes hazy, sort of like..." she splayed her fingers in front of her face and then, while sitting on her knees, stretched her hand out towards the fire, watching the flames lick from behind it, casting the side of her hand she could see into darkness, "like- I'm not awake or as if I am still dreaming. Things tend to move..." she wiggled her fingers and through them up to her face to inspect them closely, "slower then in reality. I didn't realize it until now."

"And," she continued, everyone's gazes still locked on hers, "I get this feeling- as if I am being pushed aside, subdued," Inuyasha gave a derisive snort from behind her but she continued anyway, "and afterwards I am back to normal again, I feel as if I am renewed, and I don't feel weak or tired or hot- just normal. That means something doesn't it? This has to be part of this whole problem with me!" she said hopefully, leaning forwards and looking into the eyes of everyone still sitting around the campfire. Miroku nodded and Kaede nodded as well. Sango and Inuyasha just waited for Kaede or Miroku to explain what they had come up with.

"There is unrest inside you, Kagome." Kaede said; her old voice soft and sad. Kagome stopped, her sudden burst of realization dying underneath the returned gaze of Kaede. Unrest...?

"Unrest?" she asked softly, her thoughts echoing out into the real world. She knew what unrest meant, but to what it applied to, as far as SHE went, confused her.

"Unrest. There has to be some outside force working inside of you. Let us say," she continued her old features grave, "whenever you are renewed, normal, these symptoms disappear and the haziness fades?" Kagome confirmed this with a short nod. Kaede's features, if it was possible, became graver than before.

"This, unfortunately, can have many causes, as well as the reason for it coming into being can be either mental or physical. There isn't any real way to understand this problem. I am surprised. This will be the first time I have met someone who is in unrest with physical symptoms. The normal is just a mental instability- which might be applicable in this case as well as in the others. We will never be able to understand your stage of "unrest" until we have discussed every possible clue we have..."

"But," Sango started, "this change- after the haziness passes, she is fine- but during that time- We haven't, nobody here has mentioned how her eyes glow!" Sango knew that this was important so she continued; their eyes on her, "She feels tired, and then her eyes glow! That is always the sure sign that something is wrong with her- we all know it. As soon as her eyes start to glow, and they glow purple, she seems to be fine- if not a little fuzzy headed. And not physically, but mentally." she paused, not certain how to describe it. Across from the steaming kettle of soup, Miroku sat, his brows furrowed and chewing lightly on his knuckles, thinking deeply.

Sango continued, "It's almost like she doesn't recognize us completely. She does, but then again she doesn't recognize us at all? I can't describe it..." Miroku continued for her without looking up, his eyes slightly gazed as he seemed to be remembering something deeply disturbing as he stared into the flames under the simmering dinner...

"It's almost like she sees us but forgets that we have a past. She knows our names, but she doesn't realize the importance of us..." He concentrated deeply, remembering that morning...

FLASHBACK

"_Are you saying that you two didn't see each other?" Miroku asked, his hand on her shoulder shaking her lightly. She had been staring straight ahead. As she turned to look at him, he saw the same purple twinge around her eyes. Alarm raced through him, along with a cold fear that dropped his stomach like a ton of rocks._

'_Her eyes look just like that night!'_

_Those same eyes bore through him, as she stared into him, as if searching for something. "And where is Inuyasha?" she whispered. "He's uh..."He stuttered, surprised and shocked when she leaned against him, apparently weak. Her head rested on his chest and her hands reached up to lightly trail up and down his arms._

"_Kagome? What are you doing?" He cried, backing away. Much to his displeasure, she went with him. For once, he wasn't able to laugh at the situation. Inuyasha was gone and Sango had not returned. What was he going to do? Where was Inuyasha when he needed him?_

"_I want to know... Miroku..." she whispered again, her voice faint, unlike hers and more like Kikyo's had been. But it was surprisingly different. It didn't sound like Kagome at all. When she spoke words, she sounded strange, but when she said his name, it was as if she was recognizing him as MIROKU, but at the same time her voice seemed softer and carried with it traces of-_

'_Love???'_

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"She takes on a whole new personality, almost. She recognizes us, but her actions don't seem to be controlled by her mind- which is what realizes that we are who we are and she is who she is..." He stopped, everyone was confused, since nobody was aware of what had happened that morning, and he would not tell them, they wouldn't understand his meaning. Some things were best left unsaid- and he didn't have a death wish.

"I think that is why Inuyasha had such a strong effect on her during the battle we had with her. If you remember, Sango," he said, turning and looking directly into her eyes, "her eyes were glowing at first- but she was still aware of Inuyasha. She was still able to _see_ him. I believe that, when her eyes closed- if you recall, that was when her powers REALLY went out of control. Her eyes closed and Inuyasha was blown back. I don't think that it is much of a danger when her eyes are glowing; they are more like a sign then anything else. And also, if you remember, when she opened her eyes, she called Inuyasha's name..." Kagome visibly flinched, as did Inuyasha, both very aware of the other's presence, "and then she went back to normal... It isn't all that hard to believe if you consider it..."

Inuyasha said, "So you expect us to just simply shrug it off whenever her eyes get like that? Just because it is a "warning," at least that's what you THINK, that we should just blow it off, regardless that it could eventually lead to what it DID LEAD TO?!" Inuyasha yelled. Kagome turned to look at him, her figure cast in the firelight. Their eyes caught, and in them he saw her say, "Please, just listen, Inuyasha..." He folded his arms and shrugged, leaning against the wall again. Kagome's eyes didn't leave him even after she turned away. From the corner of her eye she could tell that his gaze was pointed to the floor, hidden by his big bangs. She didn't want to be too harsh- but this was something that she had to learn about- all ideas were needed.

"Well, I am not saying disregard it. If it happens again, we should try to take in everything surrounding us. What is happening, where are we, things like that that might help us later... I merely meant to point out that her powers went out of control when her eyes closed. It was then that Kagome, as the person, was mentally shut away and all that was left was her physical form- and her power."

"But this strength that she gets, is it really all hers? How can a human have powers like that? And could it be Kagome's powers that are causing this surge of power? Couldn't that be the reason for the change in her eye color? Maybe we're just over-dramatizing this and it's just Kagome's way of getting adjusted to her powers? Though I can't understand why she would do it in such a dangerous way..." Sango contributed, mumbling off, not sure what to say next.

"Yes, it could just be her powers that do this to her. The color of her eyes could just be a backlash of her power. However, the physical CAN take over the mental. As a miko, Kagome's powers are not PHYSICAL per-se. It all has to do with Kagome as a pure individual, which has not a problem. But as a miko, her powers are enormous- even they must be a burden on her body. My only question is; how come her powers did not overwhelm her in all these years that we have been together? It has to be because of things that have occurred and what she has been going through. However..." Kaede trailed off.

"How come her powers could get out of control like that, you ask? To me, it seems like an awful a lot of energy that was being pumped out of a single girl," MY girl, "that has to have some danger to Kagome as a person- both in body and in spirit..." Inuyasha said, standing up and leaving his position against the wall.

Kagome watched him get closer to her. She had been patiently listening to everything that was being said, trying to piece it all together herself when the sight of Inuyasha's movement caught her eye. She looked up just in time to see Inuyasha's hand descending towards her. He reached out to grasp the tiny cord at her neck that secured the shikon no tama shards. Kagome's voice hitched; an exclamation already on her lips, her hand grasping for it futilely when Inuyasha spoke a startling fact that was truer then any of them could fathom, "I believe the source of her great powers and lack of control is this..." Everyone froze, mostly Kagome.

With a jerk, he ripped it from her neck. A unanimous cry of alarm cry echoes through the room. Kagome clutched at her chest, feeling as if something had been taken from her, something vital. Inuyasha stared down at the jewel, willing it to move, to act as it had before. But it simply sat in the grove of his palm. He scratched across the surface of the jewel just as Kagome yelled, her voice sounding hopelessly pathetic, "Give the Shikon no Tama back to me!"

"Inuyasha! What are you thinking! A miko's power is not a give and take relationship- it is that of a giving spirit! Her powers could not possibly have come from the Shikon no Tama!" Kaede exclaimed. As they had mentioned earlier, Inuyasha's mental stability was questionable...

"_None of us know what he is thinking anymore... It's like he is in his own world..."_

"_I wonder how that affects Kagome..."_

Inuyasha smirked, a pained expression in his eyes. "That's true Kaede, but you're forgetting something. Kagome doesn't belong to this world, does she?!" Kagome flinched, her hand dropping to her side, defeated as her heart throbbed, painfully aware that she wasn't from this time, this world. Her place here was an irregularity that they had to deal with now. Slowly he was stabbing her in the heart with his claws ripping through her.

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End of Chapter Author Commentary:**

**There is no information regarding revisions for this chapter.**

_-Luky_


	8. Changes of Appearance

_Nothing to say, except; Enjoy._

_-Luky_

**Chapter Eight: **

Changes of Appearance

"How come her powers could get out of control like that, you ask? To me, it seems like an awful a lot of energy that was being pumped out of a single girl," MY girl, "that has to have some danger on Kagome as a person- both in body and in spirit..." He continued, standing up and leaving his position against the wall.

Kagome watched him get closer to her. She had been patiently listening to everything that was being said, trying to piece it all together herself when the sight of Inuyasha's movement caught her eye. She looked up just in time to see Inuyasha's hand descending towards her. He reached out to grasp the tiny cord at her neck that secured the shikon no tama shards. Kagome's voice barely hitched, an exclamation already on her lips, her hand grasping for it futilely when Inuyasha spoke a startling fact that was more true then any of them could fathom, "I believe the source of her great powers and lack of control is this..." Everyone froze, mostly Kagome.

With a jerk, he ripped it from her neck. A unanimous cry of alarm cry echoes through the room. Kagome clutched at her chest, feeling as if something had been taken from her, something vital. Inuyasha stared down at the jewel, willing it to move, to act as it had before. But it simply sat in the grove of his palm. He scratched across the surface of the jewel just as Kagome yelled, her voice sounding hopelessly pathetic, "give the shikon no tama back to me!"

"Inuyasha! What are you thinking! A miko's power is not a give and take relationship- it is that of a giving spirit! Her powers could not possibly have come from the shikon no tama!" Kaede exclaimed. As they had mentioned earlier- Inuyasha's mental stability was questionable...

"_None of us know what he is thinking anymore... It's like he is in his own world..."_

"_I wonder how that affects Kagome..."_

Inuyasha smirked, a pained expression in his eyes. "That's true Kaede, but your forgetting something. Kagome doesn't belong to this world, does she?!"

Kagome flinched, her hand dropping to her side, defeated as her heart throbbed, painfully aware that she wasn't from this time, this world. Her place here was an irregularity that they had to deal with now. Slowly he was stabbing her in the heart with his claws ripping through her.

'give it...' she thought hopelessly as he continued talking.

"How are we supposed to know if her abnormal strength is because of her life in her own time?" Was he talking about her link to the future? What was the big deal about that anyway? Why was it-

Another dagger sliced threw her heart- irrational- why was she getting so depressed- She had no outlet, couldn't he just stop it?!

"...We know she is the reincarnation of Kikyo, she isn't a normal miko anyway is she?!" Bitterness was in his voice. Everyone else in the room was silent. Kagome felt nauseous.

'Stop... it! Just give it back to me!!!'

"For all we know this jewel could be HURTING her! Her powers are being constantly sucked into the thing right, for purification..."

'Please... I NEED it'

"It could be anything- but it has to do with the shikon no tama, I know it! Do you see her, look at her!!!" He wildly motioned his hand, the hand with the jewel and Kagome's eyes immediately hooked onto it.

'Please... GIVE IT BACK TO ME!!!'

Everyone was staring at Kagome. Nobody said anything.

'IT'S MINE! RETURN IT TO ME NOW!!!' she thought wildly.

Inuyasha stared into her face for the first time since he had started acting like an asshole. She was close to tears. Irritation flickered over her features, a whole myriad of emotions shining in her eyes. She was looking down. She wasn't looking at him, like his gaze had always done, drawn her to HIM...

'Give me back the JEWEL!'

Somewhere inside, Kagome was aware that her thoughts were irrational. The desperation she felt when he took the jewel away, she was like a moth to the flame, and so helpless against his brutal words. They cut her deep. How much more could she take?

"Inuyasha give it BACK to ME!" She yelled. She looked around, shocked by her outburst. She looked up, guilt in her eyes, but he was looking at Miroku intently. He willed him to speak, to explain what they had just witnessed. It was indeed a strange night- and it was only going to get worse.

Miroku understood what was going on. Maybe it was kinship, a kinship that had developed over such a long time that they could read each other's thoughts. But Inuyasha had always been hard to read- he had just said some deep things and with such conviction. Somehow he found it hard to believe that Inuyasha was a as much of an ass, or a mindless demon for that matter, as what he tried to portray himself. He felt things, and deeply, probably due to his human heart. The fact that he made himself say those things, without heed meant that he had had those on his mind for a very long time.

"We know that the jewel came from Kagome's body- that means it was a part of her. Your right, Inuyasha, she is not a normal miko. It IS possible that the source of her great power is a link that connects Kagome to the jewel that was once a part of her. We do have to keep in mind that she is Kikyo's reincarnation too- It isn't completely insane to suggest that the jewel has something to do with Kagome's weak hold on her powers..." he paused, "the only question is, why."

As he spoke Inuyasha handed Kagome the necklace. He watched them- their exchange a moment before was important. He dropped the jewel into her hand and she immediately began to clasp it back around her neck. Had it been like any other necklace and not something that was potentially dangerous to the instable and indecisive Inuyasha she knew, then she would have allowed herself the pleasure of him securing the necklace around her neck himself. However, they're relationship wasn't like that at all- and it wasn't any other necklace with a simple stone- no it had her SOUL on it's chain.

'My soul?'

As Miroku finished speaking, Kaede caught his hand, which was inside his robe/sleeve, twitch and seemed to clench. It looked, to Inuyasha, that he was trying to decide about something- and Inuyasha didn't want anything held back. "What do you have in your sleeve Monk?" He asked, watching Miroku sigh heavily.

'Maybe,' Miroku thought, as he pulled his arms from out of his sleeve, his fist clenched around something small, 'I really wanted them to find this... Even now, it's weight is like a burden on me- how much longer could I have possibly contained it's presence?'

Kagome gasped. She felt the blur of heat rush through her body as she realized exactly what was in his hand. Her only discomfort was that he had been able to hide it's glow- it's PURE glow.

"That's a-"

"Shikon shard-" Miroku finished for her, guiltily opening his hand revealing a sliver of what was once a great and terrible treasure. However, it's light was not tainted in the least, In fact- it was so pure that the entire room was cast into a pale purple glow. Kagome shivered as another eerie wave of heat swept over her as she admired the softly glowing jewel fragment. She said in a voice that was unlike her own, more flat then it should have been, "Where did you get that?"

Miroku looked over at her, the guilt in his eyes. Sango, on the other side of Kagome was staring at the jewel- and she felt the pressure in the room escalating- why was that single shard so... so...

"I found it among the grass after we carried Inuyasha back to camp. It apparently was the shard that had tempted the Marlboro to search for more power, (though it is NOT needed). As you can see, it has been completely purified- no trace of evil exists inside of it- I'm surprised that it exists as it does- my teachings tell me things such as this cease to exist once purification has commenced..."

Inuyasha's eyes were transfixed on the shard. He had never seen anything so shiny before- so PURE. It was so frightening that he took a step back, away from it, certain that it's sheer presence could destroy any demon, such as himself. His nose turned up at it, he had regained his composure, and looked to the side, away from the sight of it. Kaede, who was also shocked, was trying to remember a time when the shikon jewel had been as pure as that one shard was. Miroku was right, it should not have existed. Something so pure, it was surprising that Miroku's hand had not been burned away by the pure aura that emanated from it's small structure.

'Even Kikyo was not able to achieve a pure glow such as this! How can this be???' she thought.

"The jewel doesn't have the ability to purify itself," stretching his hand towards Kagome, "it had to of been your power that purified this shard." As he said this, his eyes locked on hers. She started to reach out, her fingers working on her own and watched as Miroku's hand closed around the shard. She felt an instant surge of anger, and then felt as if something had been horribly stolen from her- She felt like a child who had been deliberately denied the joy of an accustomed toy. It was hers- they had no reason to take it from her.

"I have a feeling," he said, looking at Inuyasha, who was once again watching they're exchange with perplexed and fearful look on his face, "that something strange will happen if I give this to Kagome..." Inuyasha stared at him, a question in his eyes. He watched in dim fascination as he turned his hand upside down and let the shard drop onto Kagome's palm. As soon as the shard touched her palm, a pulse filled the room, strong enough to push Inuyasha back, who had stepped forward to stop what he had a bad feeling would be what it was.

"What?" Kagome said to the air in the room. Her features became alight with the glow of her eyes, which shined as brightly as the shard a moment before. Miroku watched, his mouth set into a grim line- Kaede had her old chin dropped to her chest, remaining there as just another body for shock affect.

Kagome's hair swept up, as if by her own wind, reminding Inuyasha of a time similar to now, when her hair had been swept up like fire... He came around her side, not venturing too close to her- whether it was because of what had happened the last time he had tried to touch her or because he was shocked enough to not be able to really register what was happening an watched as something began to appear on her forehead-

She was sitting, her knees folded beneath her so she was sitting on the back of her legs, her skirt flaring up, floating, yet still managing to remain modest. Her entire figure was bathed in light, translucent light that was eerily and beautiful at the same time.

She was experiencing the strongest sense of déjà vu she had ever encountered. It swiftly came over her, leaving her shaking and feeling slightly ill when the feeling didn't pass. She felt subdued, and without restraint. It was overwhelming her- she couldn't prevent it. It was like something had taken control of her and she was powerless to stop it.

Inuyasha felt it. Her absence. She was being pulled away, he could tell by the way her eyes shifted colors slightly. He didn't want this- she was allowed to leave him. Where was she going, what was the jewel doing to her? This reaction- Miroku, I'll kill you, you bastard, for causing this!

'GET AWAY FROM MY Kagome!" HE MENTALLY RAGED.

Kagome's head bowed on it's own, her long, thick bangs slipping up and down over her forehead. Her long hair spilled over her shoulders but continued to float weightlessly. Silk strands slipped and caught on the contours of her face as she lost a bit more control. Tears came to her eyes, unbidden, and unknowingly slipped down her cheeks. The pain was dull, but it was getting stronger- what was it- why was she crying- why was this-

'Why...?' She asked the voice she knew was in the shadows, with Kagome.

'Because...' came the voice, a part of her, inside her- it was too close.

'Why is that single shard so pure- you know why don't you... Tell me...' Kagome turned her head, she was in the dark, but her eyes had tears slipping from her eyes, in reality. The people around her grew nervous as she went through this "battle" on her own.

'Sorrow fills me...' Kagome mentally pressed a hand against her chest- the pain there almost so real it was physical, 'it consumes my reason- that's why I am here isn't it? My own weakness... Why?' she demanded the answer, when nothing came but silence.

'Why am I so emotional?!' she cried, her body in reality bending over itself, trapping her hands between her breasts and her thighs, tears dripping from her eyes. Inuyasha came from around the wall, his eyes wide and filled with a multitude of emotions. Fear, anguish, sorrow, hope, and determination. He would save her- didn't the others believe that he had a place here, to help her meant he could protect her, if only slightly!

'It is our misery that guides the tears from your eyes down your cheeks...' came the voice, softly behind her.

"Our... misery?" she asked quietly, not fully understanding what the voice meant.

The voice was fading. Kagome reached out, grasping at it. It had the answers, she knew it- the answers would be found with this voice inside of herself, all she had to do was-

'Wait! What do you mean, our misery? Tell me, help me to understand and I will try to heal us!'

Kagome stood, suspended in blackness, a hole in the middle of the earth- a bottomless pit that had no beginning and no end. As she reached out to the voice- an image began to form- a shadow that BARELY stood out from the nothingness she was surrounded in.

'I'll heal us, if you'll let me!!!' she cried, her hand reaching out to grasp at the thing before her- it was the thing with the voice that had all the answers. Her fingers were just an inch away, stretching. As she began to fall forward, tripping on invisible vines that blocked her path- she felt the thing before her turn- and her entire body suddenly was illuminated in light- filling the black world with light.

Inuyasha ran forward, towards Kagome's despondent body and grabbing her shoulder with one clawed hand jerked her body up into a sitting position again. He watched her head rock to the side, her eyes empty and shining- With a cry of rage- much to the horror of the people around him- he swept his clawed hand across the hand that held the shard, viciously splitting the skin and sending it flying. Almost instantly Kagome's eyes blinked, and when they opened, they were dull and unaware- her hair fell around her shoulders, covering her face like a curtain, the color fading almost instantly from the room. Sango caught the shard that went flying and looked down at her hand- stunned.

Kagome slowly closed her eyes. She opened them, focusing at the person in front of her then unfocusing, finally settling on her hand, which was steadily bleeding, three long diagonal slash marks running from the fatty flesh of her thumb to her pinky. She stared at it for a moment before fisting her hand in her clothes. She didn't look at the man standing in front of her, he wasn't important right now. All that really mattered was healing her wound...

Inuyasha's features were clouded with regret. He hadn't understood his outburst of denial/fright that had over shadowed him- made him HATE. When her scent changed- when she changed, physically... Mentally.. Why would this bother him so much- Why did he feel so helpless. Was he really this weak?!

Inuyasha felt something inside himself snap and shatter his control into a million pieces. All eyes were upon him, except for Kagome, who was still staring deafly at her hand, feeling only numbness, a cold anger at Inuyasha, the man she loved, for ruining her chance of understanding- from meeting the nightmare voice from her dreams- and from her reality...

He didn't say anything. Nobody moved. Not a word was whispered. Inuyasha had just proven to them that he was important for keeping Kagome in control- and that the jewel had something to do with her change- but what change? What POSSIBLE difference could it make?

'Damn them. Damn her!'

"_Haha, dirty hanyou- trying to find yourself a bitch aren't you, you dirty little bastard!"_

'They're all the same- I did what I had to- and now they think they have the right to judge me when all they did was sit on they're asses and watch with dumb expressions on they're faces! Damn them! How dare they- Wasn't I supposed to protect her? Protect her? I DID protect her!' He looked down, his fist clenched at his side, his claws digging into the flesh there, and saw Kagome. She didn't look at him- just stared emptily at her hand.

'OH MY GOD...'

'I caused that wound! I hurt my Kagome- It was my claws...' the scent of her blood, underneath his fingertips, beneath his claws, drifted to his nose- and he couldn't take it anymore.

Inuyasha whirled and leapt through the door- disappearing into the night.

"Kagome?" Sango asked, scooting closer to the girl, her eyes sliding to her hand where the blood had spread across the green fabric of her skirt. "Let me take care of your hand?" She asked. The young miko turned, realizing dully that the other woman was talking to her- asking her about her hand. She would be fine, it would heal, she knew this from experience. And physical wounds were of no importance... It was the metaphysical wounds that could do the REAL damage.

"_I died hating you! My soul cannot move from that spot- so long as you exist- my heart will remain filled with this blackness-" _

She held her hand out for repair and looked out towards the door. She watched, from a distance, filled with an emotion she couldn't place- she couldn't really feel everything correctly. She didn't understand what was going on at all. When she had felt Inuyasha's presence weaken, she should have felt sorrow. It could have been sorrow, but it felt more like resignation. Like- "this is the way it has to be," or "it was meant to be like this."

She realized, somewhere inside herself, that she had lost to It. She was going to let it have free rein for a little while. It was only fair, wasn't it???

'Inuyasha...'

Miroku looked at the jewel that Sango had abandoned a moment ago, to treat Kagome's injury. He was staring intently at it- his eyes slightly glazed as he concentrated- search for an answer. He felt like he was on the tip of it- something was there right in front of him- he just had to reach out and grab it- grasp it. He was just about to give up when his eyes bulged, realization striking him like a bag of cement.

Kaede looked closely at Kagome's features, searching for anything that was a noticeable change. She had heard stories in her childhood- about the jewel and what it could do- but this had never happened- there as so many undecided factors- did the jewel coming from her have some kind of connection. She stared at Kagome's face, her eyes partially hidden by her bangs. Her mouth was slack, turned down, with deep lines of sorrow written there- that should NOT have been there. She was watching Sango wrap her hand with gauze from her time. There was something different about her- but Kaede couldn't tell what It was...

Disregarding what her old bones told her, she thought again about Inuyasha's violent reaction to Kagome's transformation. Of course, it had frightened her and the others as well, but he had STRUCK her. She could only remember one time when he had done that- and she didn't care to think about that any longer then she had to.

But then again- Inuyasha's violent reaction could have something to do with the fact that the jewel could very well, and most likely, be the cause of Kagome's transformation. It had to be. But to make matters worse, Kagome was the only one able to purify the jewel away from existence- the idea that the jewel would be completely purified if a good wish was made on it was only a hypothesis that had yet to be tested and wasn't a fool proof way to deal with it's existence if Kagome left. If they took the jewel away from her- she would be fine, healthy, without the worry of "transforming" and Inuyasha would once again be able to protect Kagome with his claws...

They couldn't take the jewel away from Kagome. She was much to powerful- and lives of so many others were resting on these poor peoples shoulders. Even if Kagome's innocent life was in danger- they could not risk having the jewel remain in its tainted condition...

Kaede sighed, turning to look out the window to the sky outside. The moon was a bright half slit across the sky. It was only a week ago that Kagome had become a questionable factor in their lives here. It was hard to believe something like this could happen. It felt like years and years of the dilemma was weighing on her shoulders... She shrugged, looking away then turning back to look peer closely at the surface of the moon.

On the half of the moon that was visible, there was a face. It is said that if the face is smiling, good fortune will be showered upon you. However, if the face was sad/mad, then bad fortune would befall you soon. As Kaede looked, she saw what she could have sworn were tears leak from the one visible eye.

This was not a good sign, but it was only a silly wives tail- it meant nothing...

'Inuyasha, will you be able to come to terms with this? There is still things that we can do- drastic things yes...' she thought, considering the possibility of the- but shook her head, changing her mind instantly, 'How you feel about this, Inuyasha???'

-...-

-...-

-...-

"ARGGGGH!"

The tortured scream of wood sliding against each other filled the forest as a hoarse yell filled the air. The sound of shattering wood could also be heard as something sharp and angry bit into the tree trunks splitting them in half and shredding the base like a serrated knife.

Inuyasha turned, propelling his body with his feet and swinging his claws like a mad man. His claws meant the soft flesh of the tree in front of him, his strikes wild and erratic. He raked his claws down the trunk of a tree, his anger clouding his vision.

"Damn IT!" He raged, his fist smashing against the base of another unsuspecting victim. His knuckles split instantly on impact, but the tree followed suit almost as quickly. He clenched his claws, unaware that it was bleeding freely and that it was pained. He dug his heals into the ground and threw into a new patch of trees.

As he swung his fists, raking his claws against anything and destroying everything- he knew he was doing something truly stupid. It was insane to just keep continually destroying these things- but how else could he relieve anything-

Kagome was-

He-

"RRRRRRRRRAHHHHHHH!" He screamed, jumping and smashing his claws down the middle of the tree. He watched with satisfaction as the tree splintered and cracked down to the very ground where it's twisted and bent base rested, half uprooted. When his feet touched the bottom, he finally stopped. He stood there for a moment, then he fell to his hands and knees. He was there for a moment, panting, but not because he was worn out- or even not even that he as physically weak. The tree above him groaned painfully, it's long tree trunk finally beginning to fall, completely split from the top to the shredded base. It began to SLOWLY fall to the left and right of Inuyasha's figure.

He was breathing heavily, a thin trail of sweat slipped from his forehead and dripped from his nose as the tree, it's leaves swaying overhead, landed on the ground in a giant ploom of dust. He slowly got to his feet, his mouth set in a grim, straight line. He slowly turned away from the destruction he had caused and walked the opposite way, into the forest.

'Can I keep myself together? I can't keep destroying things like this, can I?" he asked himself, wondering about his explosive anger and the EXTREME damage it tended to cause. Since he had be with Kagome, he had had to keep a lid, however small, on his rage- containing himself- if only a little. He had tried, and still continued to, keep his anger harnessed securely, but it still snuck it's way out.

It was just until recently- almost a year recently, that he had begun to loose control. It was gradual at first- but he found himself feeling irrational and not even knowing it. Then he would get angry, for simple things, like not getting up out of bed early enough so they could...

His thoughts trailed off as he clenched his hand- reminded again of WHY they might not be getting up earlier, and WHY he was so angry. He looked down at his hand- and saw the blood was underneath his fingernails. After beating several trees to dust, it was amazing how he didn't have a scratch. But it couldn't have been his blood that stood out against the smell of saw dust...

HER blood.

The blood HE had spilled.

He clenched his fist and leapt into the air, hoping that physical pain would drown out the mental.

It was dark outside, the moon the only thing that gave light. It cast everything in a beautiful glow- ethereal, and casts the shadows deeper. It was the light that he oh so hated. How he wished he could just go back to the blackness where everything was easy. If he killed Naraku- maybe, if he could do just that, he wouldn't be such a burden to them. He would no longer have to worry about hurting, them. He could live only for himself.

If he could only do that...

His foot landed on a branch gracefully and quickly he leaned down, flexing his muscles and preparing to- he flew into the air again. While there, he could see the moon over the treetops, the power and the force of his jump propelling him faster then anything else ever had. With the increased wind his hair lifted from his back and his clothes billowed behind him. The coolness that was felt while being higher up was just another sign that the safe traveling days he had had with his companions was going to end.

'Traveling during winter is more dangerous then traveling in the heat. Winter time brings with it, along with the snow, a long famine and drought. Not to mention sickness to everyone...' He thought morbidly.

He did not know where he was going- only that he was leaving behind the village at a rapid pace. It was only when he landed on the ground, and took notice of his surroundings did he realize where his thoughts (heart) had lead him...

It had not changed. It was as if time and age had no affect on it. Water- everywhere, continued it's flow against it's fate that it would too eventually dry up. How long had this place been fighting? How much longer did it have. It was in Kagome's time that places like this picture perfect lake were defeated by time.

Kagome's scent was still here... The scent of fever- then the scent he remembered from many years ago, when they had first meant. He could have sworn that he would have found himself at the base of Goshinboku, but it was the lake that he had followed Kagome to. As he sat down on the ground, in his normal, doglike position, he sniffed the air, turning his head up and lowering his eyes, taking in her scent, and his scent- changed for some reason.

He looked up into the tree tops and remembered...

He crept slowly towards her form, as if he feared she would rear up from the water with a splash and "sit" him for peeping.

He was uncertain of whether or not she slept. Would she wake if he moved her? It had to be uncomfortable to be laying like that, didn't it? So he would shift her around a little bit so that she could catch up on rest- she was the one who was always tired... and that disturbed him just a bit... only a little bit...

As he crept closer to her, he took in her features. Ageing from youth had done something to her, something wonderful. When he had meant her she had been nothing but a child- not with a figure and not without. Now she had grown. Her cheekbones had grown higher and her body more shapely and slender. In her sleep her mouth was gently relaxed, revealing pearly white teeth- no doubt due to the thing she called a "toothbrush." Her eyes were no longer as big as the were that time, but they remained bright and smiling always. Her body had grown too. She was well proportioned and strong. Her strength...

He leaned down gently and hooked his arms beneath her, gently turning her over, then picking her up to carry her towards the waters shore. He carried her bridal style, her head flung back over his arm weighed down by her long flowing hair, wet from being in the water. Her hair was pulled back at the hairline, her bangs pulled back and away from her face, giving him a better look at her features.

Her eyes were relaxed her long lashes curlier then normal with water droplets still hanging on tight. Her brow was not drawn tight as it normally was in her sleep, but it gave her a look of serenity. He leaned his face closer to her exposed neck, her scent warm and soothing, and felt her breath softly flow over his face from parted lips.

"She's so..." His mouth set into a grim line as he realized exactly what he was thinking out loud- should anyone hear this...

He laid her down as gently as he had picked her up, only with more haste then before. Her arms were flung out, her head tilted back, the slender and womanly flesh exposed at her neck- it was all to much to bear- he looked away.

He couldn't remember a time when she had looked so welcoming... as if she was urging him- goading him... In this new sleep, so completely different from the one she had had all those lights before, she looked like the very image of "The Forbidden Miko..."

He sat down on the ground beside her, his eye still on her from the side, glancing at her almost skeptically.

He looked away from her, speaking out loud to her, his eyes on the water. "What do you want from me?"

No answer.

He continued.

"You can't prevent my death. If that were possible- our goodbyes would have been said long ago. After I kill Naraku- I will not have a place here-- a purpose..." he looked at her from the side, expecting a reaction at the mention of the future... "You don't want me to go, I know. But... I HAVE to go, I have to go with her..." He felt something inside him softly burning in his abdomen. He wasn't certain what the feeling was- so he just continued.

"When that happens, you know... I will need you to be strong- for me." He paused, his eyes focusing on the rock in the middle of the lake, and continued, "It's not like I need support for that, cause I know you would support me if I asked you too. No, the truth it- I can't leave you, knowing that your not normal. How can I leave you? How?" He asked, turning his body towards her.

He turned his body towards hers, rasping her shoulders and pulling her upper body into his lap. He cradled the side of her face with his hand, a stray clump of black hair falling between his fingers like silk. His breath was ragged, harsh and as he stared into her face, her lips parted even further as he pulled her face closer to his, the feeling in his abdomen exploded.

"Don't you SEE?!" He cried softly, yet still harshly. "I'm not in love with Kikyo anymore!"

No answer.

"The jewel will be safe..." he said softly, cradling her head with one arm and gentle reaching out to pull the Shikon jewel from beneath her Kimono top out into the light. It wasn't glowing like it had been. He stared at it, waiting for a reaction. He received nothing, and he was glad for it, but when he turned back to Kagome, his expression softened. He dropped the jewel from his hands, abandoning it for the slope of Kagome's soft cheek.

**What** was he doing?

What **was** he doing?

What was he **doing**?

What the **HELL** was he doing?!

"I know you will do whatever you have to do to purify it after I become a full demon..." Then his voice did a sudden change, from soft, to angry, "I know it will hurt you but if I stay here as I am-- I might not let you go home... I might not let you live... without me..."

"I hurt you- it's the look in your eyes that kills me," silence, "It's not like I want to hurt you. It happens, I don't know why. You annoy me- you get under my skin- and I..."

"I care about you!" He blurted out quickly. He could have sworn the sound of her breathing caught, but he couldn't be sure. He looked down into her face, half waiting for her to open her eyes and find herself in his arms... He waited for a moment, then peered into her face.

"I can't stand it..." he whispered gently, allowing himself to move his hand forward. He hadn't forgotten his goal. He knew this- he would not forget. He would destroy Naraku and become a mindless demon... for Kagome's sake, he would becomemindless and go to Kikyo in hell.

"Your illness disturbs me-- whts wrong with you Kagome! I cant stay here with you like this anymore-- I cant take seeing you like this-- why is it that I have to be this vile creature and unable to hold you like this..." he pulled her closer, her arms in an X in her lap, her head falling back against his shoulder, his strong arms tightening around her wet body...

Had he always felt like this? The overwhelming flood of emotions that swept over him were almost too much to bear. He couldn't understand it. Was it his need to feel alive that had his heart beating wildly in his chest?

Longing. Hope. Fear. Sorrow. Anger. Desire.

He couldn't tell if it was because he had almost died this time. He knew it to be true- his life had almost been taken from him. In truth, he wanted her to wake up and tell him that she would not let him die, reassure him... He had never been so close to death after having been at the hands of the enemy. It was shocking to think that this woman was the cause of the wounds he had suffered. Had he really been willing to give his life for her?

He cared. He knew this much at least. He cared about her life, and most of all her smile. He wasn't sure what this meant, but he cared about HER. And it was she who had almost succeeded in ripping his body and draining his half demon blood.

'I don't believe it!' he mentally cried, crushing her against his chest, 'There has to be something that I'm missing!" He looked down at the Shikon no tama and said, "If it is the jewel that has caused this change, I will rip it from you and won't allow harm to befall you anymore!" He looked again at his chest where her shoulders her scrunched against his chest. He slowly relaxed and loosened his grip on her. His hand one again cupped her face, the fire in his stomach igniting again.

He lifted her face up as he bowed his face over her features. His bangs hung over his eyes as his body curled over hers, which was still half on him, half off. His hands shook, his heart ached, and his stomach was doing some strange things...

'I don't want to die...' he thought as he looked down at her face, 'if it means leaving you alone without knowing you'll be okay...' His eyes stared down into her face, transfixed, soft, and glazed over with a desire more fierce then the he had ever experienced. He mouth was inches from hers, his breath fanning across her face. He was leaning closer, his hair slipping over his shoulders as his mouth moved to whisper softly in her ear...

'_**Don't leave me."**_

-...-

-...-

-...-

Kagome jerked invonatarily as a familiar aura filled her senses. She had felt this before. She knew that this was part of her. She had to go. She stood without warning, Sango's grip slipping and unwinding the roll of gauze she had been wrapping Kagome's hand with. It dropped to the floor with a soft _pahd pahd..._

"Kagome-chan?" She asked, alarmed.

"Can you not feel the aura approaching. It is so similar to mine. It must be she..." she asked already walking towards the door.

Kaede shook her head, searching for the aura that Kagome had locked in on- she didn't even think to question how she would have been able to connect with it- and was actually surprised when she couldn't not find it. She wondered if it was because of age.

"Is it Kikyo?" Miroku asked, from the side, not looking up from what he had in his hand. The figure stopped without looking back and answered, "yes." She continued forward, about to push past the flap when Sango heard Miroku shout behind them.

"Who are you- and what have you done to Lady Kagome!" Sango gasped and Kaede turned her old eyes at the figure cloaked in the shadows of the door frame. Now, as they looked, and as it turned, they saw that it could NOT have been Kagome. She was different- it was the rigid way that she carried herself... It couldn't have been Kagome standing so rigid and controlled... They saw her eyes glint in the moonlight from the open door flap.

Purple eyes.

**Dark** purple eyes.

She stopped, long enough of a pause for the reality to sink in. Kagome was...

"She sleeps." came the voice they had heard before. Now it sounded empty, dull. It sent a shiver down all of they're spines, paralyzing them from head to toe...

And then she was gone.

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**End of Chapter Author Commentary:**

**There is no information about Revision for this chapter.**

_-Luky_


	9. Two Minds, One Body

_So as most hard times go, here is my anniversary gift to all my readers, Chapter Nine, finally, of "When We Went Rogue":_

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**Chapter Nine**

Two Minds, One Body

The blush that stained his cheeks did little to nothing to ease the unmanly feeling that was creeping over his conscious. He was blushing like a fool- a silly little school girl- like one of Kagome's immature girlfriends. With much effort, he willed it away, making furious swipes at his ruddy cheeks with his red sleeve, which, by coincidence alone, resembled a lighter shade of the maroon on his cheeks. Still, even then he could see the figures- the figures of him and Kagome- during that moment and the blush remained, strong as ever.

'What exactly had I been thinking in that moment?' he questioned himself. As he considered it now, the certainty that should have come with his ragged admittance eluded him. He remained without certainty about the event. He had been delirious- maddened, maybe. All he knew- all he could see- all he could feel- was Kagome. His actions, what he said, everything was a direct result from what had occurred between them that fateful night when she had lost control of her powers.

'Even then… What I said was true. My thoughts may be consumed with Kagome- my body and heart… but I cannot allow someone who is half a man such as I to hold her back from her real world. I cannot follow any other path…' A slow wind began to filter through the trees. The midnight sky twinkled with a promise of treachery down beneath the curtain of ancient leaves and cast small rays of pearly light against the crystalline glitter of the pond. Inuyasha's lone figure stood, legs braced and long silver hair flowing, like the lone fighter among a field of ruins. The light in the enclave seemed to cast his body in an ethereal kind of luminosity, making his very figure glow with reserved brilliance.

He did not quite understand why this place had called to him. He still did not know why he had said the things he had here, for they were not something he would have ever thought he would say. Regardless, he did not know of this place, but standing here made him feel as if he was complete, yet, as if he had lost something precious. His secrecy of his feelings... at least a part of them- had been stolen that night by the feelings this place awakened in him.

'I have to become a demon because I do not want to remember Kagome... When I am free of these emotions I can rest, in death, with Kikyo…' he thought, reserving himself to his accursed fate, 'even if…' The figure bowed its head sadly, yet no tears welled in the brilliant amber orbs as they glowed with fierce intensity. As the thoughts spiraled in his mind, unconsciously his fist clenched at his side, his nails digging into his flesh. Was it really the physical pain that caused him to react in this way- surely it was the ache in his chest that caused this pain, not anything else.

'Even if… I can no longer protect… your smile…' he thought sadly. His extremely long bangs slashed over his face, whipping as the air seemed to pressurize the small place where he stood. Its weight and increased velocity had him looking to the sky where a cloud of leaves were thrown into the sky as the winds rocked them loose from their trees.

"What the hell???" he asked aloud, searching the sky and feeling with his senses for anything strange. He did not sense anything amiss at first, but then he suddenly locked in on Kagome's scent. The wind had carried it to this place, at least a 30 minute walk away from the hut, and had managed to stay intact. At first Inuyasha thought nothing of it, almost turning away from the sudden alarm, then he realized something was tremendously wrong with the particulars of her natural odor.

"Wait a minute," he said aloud angrily, the sudden realization crashing over him like a ten wheeler, "that's not Kagome's scent- it's…"

He leapt into the air, abandoning the small lake for the time being, and landed in a tree. He jumped each branch until he had reached the very top where he crouched, two hands gripping the branch, and sniffing at the air like the half-dog he was, confirmed what his senses had already told him.

"Kikyo?!" he cried aloud, confused. It sounded like a bitter croak of a dying man as he took his last breaths, reaching for something he had longed for but had never gotten. The pain in his voice alone caused the trees below him to stir with sadness.

He spared it not even a second thought, what had happened those days ago when he had been with Kagome, but could not erase it from his mind. He leapt from the tree with greater speed then he had ever used before. He was halfway back to the hut, his eyes dry with the force of the winds pushing against him, when he felt the pull of something else. It was stronger then himself, stronger then Kagome; it was the reek of the unnatural. It was impossible that after all this time; Kikyo could have been reborn again…

…

BACK TO KAGOME…

…

A kind of deep sleep had enveloped the girl, lying so deeply within herself. She was aware of every sound, of every cry, of every soft sound of footfall against the gentle grass- but it seemed muted, as if someone had turned down the volume to a blaring radio suddenly, and a person was unaccustomed to the silence. The feeling of deep sleepiness had come over her, but she was trying frantically to fight it.

From somewhere inside of Kagome's possessed body, Kagome was still awake. And as the thing controlling her walked with her body she tried to figure out what was happening, trying vainly.

'What is this? Why can't I stop myself from walking? Who are you?' she asked the bleak darkness. From before her she was seeing through different eyes, a dulled vision under a veil of perfect black lashes, and could see that she was walking. The sound of her new shoes made soft pads as the ground turned from gravel to wispy grass. If she had a form within herself, she would have been shaking her head and twisting her body, as if to break free from the bonds keeping her from her own body's control.

'Why are you doing this?' she asked again, mentally wringing her hands. 'What do you want?!'

She was surprised when a voice answered her, "It is as I have guessed, you are too weak and can no longer deal with your body." came the voice. Kagome shuddered, the voice was soft, cold, and so unlike her own. The sound issued from her lips but it came from somewhere else within her body. Something was causing this entity to control her, but what was it? Could it be Naraku?

'What do you mean? I don't understand!' she cried as the Kagome she was secluded in continued her dull trek through the village, heading in some unseen direction that was unknown to the entity whom the body actually belonged to. She was too weak? How could that be? She could deal with anything, so long as Inuyasha was by her side. Her body would HAVE to deal with it, or Kagome's willpower could…

Couldn't it...?

"It deteriorates." came the voice, cold and unfeeling, and it stole through Kagome's mind, freezing her.

'My body? What do you mean it deteriorates?! My flesh isn't falling off, is it?' she yelled sarcastically. She wasn't certain how the voice was able to respond. She was yelling but even then she felt deaf and stupid, unable to understand. Was she drugged?

"Physical deterioration is the final step to the loss of a being." It was calm, cool. Kagome knew that voice. But from where had she heard it??? From where was it born? How could it control her? And what exactly did it mean when it said "Physical deterioration is the final step to the loss of a being?" she asked.

"It is logical that you have been suffering from sudden outbreaks of heat and cold, however, this is not a sign of physical deterioration, but a sign of imbalance. As such, I am here to rectify this and bring balance to your chi." The voice was controlling her body, walking with her body, talking through her lips. Even as she walked her arms were hung at her sides and did not sway. She glided forward while the real Kagome lay back behind her eyes and watched like a moth to the flame as everything happened around her.

Needless to say, she was confused. 'Imbalance? I eat a healthy diet! What in the world are you talking about?' She cried out to the voice, the darkness surrounding her seemed to dull the sound and it reverberated around her "being" (if one could call it that) like a sick echo of a thousand mixed voices. It was a sound from nightmares, and worst of all, it was all her doing. At least it was her voice that reached from the depths to plaque her, and not the hideous voice that had haunted her dreams.

'This voice is from my dreams...?'

"I have tried to lessen the affect of this imbalance, yet my protection can not last any longer. I am here to seek a balance to your soul because you have not been able to do this on your own and you are now too weak to accomplish your goal by yourself."

'What goal? My soul?! How can my soul have anything to do with anything?' she asked the haunting voice from within.

"It is that which you care for, yet you do not understand what the soul truly is. So long as you are imbalanced, the Shikon no Tama will remain impure. I cannot allow this to happen. It must be cleansed from this earth and for such an act; your other being must become one again with you…"

Kagome froze. The voice had spoken of the Shikon no Tama… She was pure, wasn't she? It still remained pure in her hands, how was it possible that she no longer could cleanse it? She did that every day by merely holding it! It was constantly with her, and she was not imbalanced, simply put- she felt fine.

But the voice spoke again, "You are not "fine". This is the reason for your loss of memory. It is your unwillingness to grasp what I have already shown to you that has led you to this path. Your merely holding the jewel is not enough to fully erase its existence. So long as you are not one with your own being you cannot hope to rid the world of the pollution that is the Shikon no Tama..."

Kagome wasn't pure? What did that mean? How could she have gotten impure? How was that possible?

A multitude of questions paraded around Kagome's head, and it became increasingly difficult to think. As she had before, she called out to the voice asking again for answers that she had no hope to find.

'What has caused this impureness in my body?!' she asked, imploring the haunting voice to issue forth once again. Kagome noticed through the same eyes as before that she had just passed the maple tree… The maple tree where she and Inuyasha had shared what had happened between them. It was there that Inuyasha had told her all that had happened. What had he said? Something about how she had changed physically. It began to nag at her as she listened to the voice answer…

"If you do not know, with all of your knowledge, then you can not be allowed to be "She who guards the Shikon Jewel" any longer."

Something clicked in Kagome's brain. The phrasing that the voice had just used… what was it? Four years had seemingly dulled her memory.

'I know what you mean, but I can't think of the answer!' she cried aloud, not certain why the voice wasn't laughing at her. By now she was certain she would have simply been erased from the black world she had faded into.

"Think harder, Miko. It is your very life that exists on a precarious balance, one that only you had the power to overturn. You have failed. I cannot allow your vessel to come upon any more injury. You must become whole again."

Whole again. She had heard that too, somewhere… Whole again… She needed to be whole???

She thought back to a conversation she had had long ago with Kaede. What had they been talking about? It was something serious…

……..FLASHBACK…….

"Kaede, what truly happened that day? Why is it that Kikyo still lives, even though I still remain with my soul?"

Kaede had been mashing herbs but she sighed and turned to the child. She sat on her knees and faced the woman as politely as she could and listened. She retold the events leading up to her capture by Urasue. From there she went on to explain that, after seeing Kagome bathed in the herbs required for drawing her soul out of her body, and Kikyo's soulless form, Inuyasha had called out Kikyo's name.

Kagome felt a twist in her stomach and felt unreasonably sick for a moment. Confused at that behavior, she instead focused on how pissed off she was that Inuyasha had been the source of her loss of "soul".

That thought had made her laugh.

Then, following the point where Kagome was certain she was going to vomit came the part where she remembered very little. Even as Kaede asked her, she could not dredge up the memory. It was important, that was for certain.

"That is what I don't understand…" Kaede concluded with. Kagome quirked a brow but said simply, "That is what you can't understand? Do you mean me not dying without a soul?"

"No. You had part of your soul still alive in you… otherwise… But even then, I do not understand what kept that last small part of you inside of yourself. What could it have been? I wonder…" she pondered aloud, only confusing the youthful 15 year-old more.

"So long as the part of your soul that was given to Kikyo remained filled with hatred and sorrow you could not reclaim it. She should not have been at peace until Inuyasha's death or unless she had found some sort of peace with her soul that she no longer could hate Inuyasha. Then your soul would have been given back to you, your eyes once again opened to the world… however…"

Kagome had watched the old woman shake her rustic joints and with a squeak, stand to walk towards the back of the room where she retrieved a single arrow from a quiver. She once again sat down next to Kagome and held the arrow out for Kagome to take. Without hesitation, Kagome picked it up and admired the fine tip and shaft before turning to Kaede with a question in her eyes. "What is this supposed to mean?" she asked.

Kaede shook her head. "I am not sure. I know that Kikyo declared that her hate and sorrow would not ever lift, and that her "soul cannot move from this spot". Yet that was talk of evil, and the holy powers should not have been blessed upon her any longer. She was missing a part of her soul, the part that was still in you…" Kagome's eyes widened slightly and she looked at the arrow again. Inuyasha had been attacked by her holy powers… If she had been evil then, how come she had been able to use the holy powers up until now? Why was she still able to do that, if Kagome had most of their soul?

"Shortly after, she came after Inuyasha's life and it was only then that you became animated again…" Kagome remembered she had blushed that time, memories of the night spent with his head in her lap running through her mind, but had shaken it off with Kaede's continued explanation, "You took back from Kikyo's body your soul, a soul forced to recognize its death again, and awoke shortly later, after Inuyasha had returned without Kikyo…"

"It was Urasue who spoke of the remaining hatred that moves Kikyo's macabre body now, a 'demoness' she referred to her as. But I am not so certain about that. Hers was a powerful soul and it has been proven that you two share this soul. But yours is seamlessly stronger, and almost without limit… You are definitely no ordinary reincarnation. There was no evil in her before, so that means that the hatred was the cause of that evil; and because of that… she should no longer be able to use her spiritual powers…" Kaede concluded with a nod.

"So what is confusing? I got my soul back and now Kikyo still has some of it? Kaede, you could be speaking ENGLISH for all I know!" she said sarcastically, knowing full well that Kaede didn't have a clue about where or even WHEN English came around. Not that Kagome could have, at that time, spoken much of it either. Kaede told her such and Kagome tried not to sigh in exasperation.

"Still, you are here now, and your powers are undimmed, and are practically limitless. They have been tested and prove worthy. It is now your time to guard the Shikon Jewel. As Kikyo did before you… I fear it is no longer in her power to do so anymore…"

………FLASHBACK………

The memory faded in a brilliant flash of color and realization spiked through Kagome's mind as she realized what the phantom Kagome meant.

'Who are you?' She asked the void in which she was shrouded, expecting an answer, 'You were talking about Kikyo, weren't you!!' She yelled.

The voice answered her coolly. "It seems you have realized now. It is too late. Sleep, it will all be over soon." she said, and Kagome felt the change as the body stopped. The image cleared. She was standing in a field, a large field, just outside of her village. Before her was the dark expanse of Inuyasha's forest.

'What… what is your intention?' She asked again, fear striking through the remainder of her being, chilling her tiny world inside her own body. She had a good idea now what its intention really was. She had to do something…

It gave her no answer.

'WHAT IS YOUR INTENTION?!?' she yelled, the sound muffled by the deep expanse. She felt herself being drawn away, pulled away from herself and the scene before her clouded like murky water set adrift by a school of fish. She reached an imaginary hand out towards the scene, yelling what she thought she would never have yelled.

'Kikyo! What do you intend to do to Kikyo?' she cried again, her voice shaking with fear. Kikyo had died, she had been gone… Yet if she had TRULY died that final time with Naraku, in their last battle, the remainder of her soul would have been returned to her. It had not.

From the darkening image, Kagome saw the faint glow of Kikyo's shindamachu. She felt a sick feeling welling up inside herself as her mind began to empty, sleep closing the eyes over her mind and shutting out her senses to the outside world. She gave one last thought, one last cry for help, calling out 'Inuyasha… Kikyo… I'm afraid she…'

The hand pressed against Kagome's chest was cold. The being residing inside it gave in to the halted breathing that had been caused by the fierce internal battle to subdue Kagome's soul. It was expected, coming from someone so strong a descendant, however.

Each power gets greater from the previous source.

"As it is true with all of us, you included, Kikyo…" the voice whispered knowingly as the form of the undead miko stepped out from the shade in the trees. Her form was the same as it had been when she had died; the clay body did not age. All things dead were to forever remain dead, until the end of time.

Kikyo stopped just outside the groping reach of the forest, the shindamachu circled around her like whispery shawls floating in unseen winds. She halted, her cold eyes fixed upon Kagome's straight form.

"Kagome." She spoke the one word as if it were something vile and unfit to taint the pureness of her tongue. Even in her death she had remained arrogant in her ability to deal with all threats and types of conflicts. It was no surprise that the newly resurrected Kikyo would be the same as the one who had come before. As weak-minded as Kagome was, she had been unable to see the differences between the undead miko and herself. It was also that same ignorance that failed to show her the similarities.

Still, the voice said nothing. The air seemed to chill. As if resigned to let Kikyo figure it out like Kagome had, all too late of course, the figure stood straight and tall and did not respond to the greeting.

'What is this?' wondered the miko. She peered closely at the face, but could not tell from the thick black bangs what was confusing her. The auras were completely wrong…

"Kagome?" she asked softly, in the same commanding voice as before. She looked Kagome up and down, assessing her enemy. She stopped, the shindamachu circling her closer, as if noting their master's distress.

'I can sense your aura around you but it is not the same. It is darker, and more powerful than even my own. What could have taken you, Kagome? Is it that powerful? How am I to… '

She laughed bitterly. She had come seeking answers, but had found only more questions. However, there was one answer she could get…

"Who are you?" she asked; her eyes steeled and icy. She seemed to withdraw into herself, as she waited for an answer she took stock of her surroundings. It had been a long time, two years worth of time since she had battled, could she do it again now? Would she be able to fight?

'That body is definitely Kagome's. She looks the same, if not a bit more mature, as before, from what I can remember. It is her aura that has changed. It is polluted.' she concluded. When the voice refused to answer, she drew from behind her back her bow and plucking a single arrow from her quiver, notched it and pointed it directly at the stranger.

"You are not Kagome." she said sternly. Her arms shock with restraint as she tried to vainly keep her fingers locked. The voice regarded her coolly as she asked again "Who are you, interloper?"

"Tell me now or I will let this arrow loose and watch your demise before my very eyes…" she said, pulling the arrow back further. Her muscles were screaming and it took all of her control to keep her chest from heaving.

"I am she who controls the Shikon Jewel, Midoriko." She said slowly, bowing to Kikyo's figure.

Her grip on the bow instantly lessened. 'Midoriko? Why would she be here, in Kagome's body? How…' her gaze fell to Kagome's chest where, hanging by a simple chord, the shining Shikon fragment glittered with vibrant intensity. She knew what this was. "Midoriko, how did you come to possess Kagome?"

She had come seeking answers, but it looked like the answers weren't to be had, not now. "Release Kagome!" she commanded.

Midoriko/Kagome slowly met Kikyo's gaze, the icy eyes chilling her form where she stood and said in a calm voice, "I have come to correct the imbalance between you and the Miko Kagome. Without the remainder of your soul, she will be unable to protect the jewel…" she said; her voice empty and dull.

Kikyo felt something akin to bile rising in her throat, she snarled, "It is MY duty to guard the Shikon Jewel, and thus, you may not have my soul!" Taking her soul would mean death, wouldn't it? She didn't want to die yet, she hadn't seen Inuyasha…

'Inuyasha…'

"The day I die is the day you die!"

"Inuyasha…" She whispered the word without thinking and it filtered its way instantly to Kagome's ears.

From within herself, she began to awake…

…

He didn't notice the scent of Kagome's aura as he swept towards the front of the hut. He landed on the ground in a large cloud of dust and saw, even before it cleared, Sango and Miroku, strapping on their battle gear. He stopped, an instant fear taking over his senses. Kikyo's smell had faded slightly, replaced instead by Kagome's aura. Even then, something was very wrong with her aura. He didn't see Kagome anywhere, even now that the dust had settled…

"Inuyasha!" Miroku exclaimed, grabbing his staff and giving it a shake. Sango came up from behind him, tying to her waist her pale bone-tooth scabbard, its katana sheath glinting in the moonlight.

"Where the FUCK is Kagome?!" He asked harshly, angry at not them, but himself. He knew, even before he had asked the question, where she had gone.

'Just like that night… She walked straight into danger, just like before…' he thought, remembering sadly…

Their silence to his question was enough of an answer for him. He couldn't help the vicious string of curses that flew from his mouth as he punched at another tree, re-splitting his knuckles for the third time that night. A shower of splinters erupted from the tortured base and caught in the silver strands of his long hair, a small river of blood began to flow down his knuckles as he growled, deep and low in his chest.

'I'm weak…'

He knew something was wrong with Kagome, but he was always too late, too weak…

'I can't… FUCK IT!'

He was always arriving just as she got hurt. He never was able to protect her from anything. She was always rushing into battle, screwing up his plans, getting under his skin! The stupid bitch wasn't even smart enough to realize when she was outclassed. He KNEW that she was in danger constantly by being by his side, but she had said she wanted to STAY. To stay with him, yet he was supposed to protect her. He was too useless, too strange, and too inept.

_"Just DIE, YOU FUCKING SON OF A DEMON WHORE!!!"_

"Inuyasha… Something is wrong with Kagome and I fear-", Miroku started, walking towards Inuyasha who was hunched over, growling. He had shattered the tree without a thought. This was not good. Inuyasha must know something is wrong… what can I say? What can I do? There were things, obvious facts… Kikyo's aura being felt, having not been felt in two years, was a horrifying thought. If she had come back, Naraku should have come back as well. The last time they had all been together, that last time, Kagome had almost died.

He did not get the chance to reassure him... As his hand came down upon his shoulder to comfort his friend, he jerked away, his wide amber eyes falling upon his features. He was crazed, frenzied, and he swung his arm out in a wide arc, his hand gripping Tetsusaiga's handle as he leapt into the air again.

Miroku heaved a sigh, knowing that Inuyasha's sense of smell was keener. He could not lie to him. He could smell his very fear, among other things. He frowned as Sango came to stand behind him, her black suit fully attached and her hair tied away from her face, two thick strands falling loose from the high ponytail in front of her ears. Her eyes, too, were wide, frightful- and he had the sudden urge to kiss at the trembling lip that she was so deliciously biting between her teeth.

"Miroku, I am ready." He looked over at her again, and figured she had meant, "Ready for battle" and not something else. He figured if she could read minds, he would be dead. Regardless, his lustful thoughts were not important at the moment. "Where is Inuyasha?" she inquired, holding the frazzled cord securing Hiraikotsu to her back.

He looked up into the clouds and regarded the face of the moon. He now knew why Kaede had been staring at the stars earlier.

"Miroku, let's go!" Sango cried, running towards Kirara as the demon transformed into its beast form. A lick of cool flame caressed his skin as he was snapped out of his trance by Sango's firm grip on his wrist. Kirara took flight as Miroku hefted his remaining leg over the demon's burly body, weighted down by the sheer volume of his robes. When he was secure, Sango turned to him and asked, "Miroku, Kikyo can't be here, can she? She died with Naraku! Inuyasha said he left her alone with Naraku!"

Miroku had no answer. They had searched for Naraku for a time after they had returned to their normal era, but had not found him. They had concluded that he had simply stayed behind, lost in time. But if Kikyo had reappeared, and Naraku had been with her… Surely that meant…

He could offer no reassurances. He just looked up into the moon as the Fire demon gave a mighty kick, its muscles bunching and tensing underneath his thighs. Even Kirara was upset by what was happening. The only question was: what WAS happening?

He looked into the two faces of the fading moon, apprehension kicking in his belly.

Everything was two-sided, this night.

…

Her eyes opened first, and the realization that she was not entirely herself came second. Her memory was faint. What had she been doing?

"Sleep, it will all be over soon."

Kagome became instantly aware. 'Oh my god, Kikyo!' she thought frantically, reconsidering shifting her mind again, lest she be discovered.

'How do I get out of here?' she asked herself, not certain what to do. She was trapped here, subdued by force, her very essence secluded and diminished. Then the knowledge came to her as if she had been attacked with it.

She blanked out all thoughts of Kikyo and Inuyasha, as well as her fear, and thought, 'I have to open my eyes, I can't let Kikyo die again!' and began to focus on her own mind. Soon she began to feel it, the beat of her heart in her mind, and the vision she saw of Kikyo, standing before her, arrow notched and bow raised, shifted into darker focus. She ignored it with a gasp and continued to concentrate. She began to remember what she was.

From her heart her life blood flowed strongly, and from there it would flow across her arms her legs into her head and bring oxygen to her cells. She focused harder… 'And if there is blood in my arms then there are arms for the blood to go into!' she thought. And as she watched her body began to appear before her; glowing a pale white as it illuminated the darkness around her.

As she concentrated, the knowledge filled her. If she had a mind, there was a heart. From those things she could find where her head was, and where her chest was. If she had a chest and blood was flowing, she had arms and legs, and they too would appear before her. From this she began to feel the parameters that had been set by the gods to house the spirit of a living mind- a physical form.

HER BODY.

Now, completely formed, glowing and very naked, she looked around where she was standing. Again the image of Kikyo appeared before her eyes.

"I DID it!" she yelled, the same dullness in her ears. She swung an arm, waved it in an arc and tried to bend it backwards, dull pain flickered inside of her, but she didn't care. She had a head now, a body, and vocal chords. She felt like she was going to cry with her success. It was then that she felt the tremor through her body.

…

Kikyo watched as the dark purple of her eyes began to fluctuate in color. They started to shine. The Kagome before her pressed a hand against her chest almost in disbelief, and said with an almost animal-like hiss, "Fool."

Kikyo knew what was happening. She had suppressed Kagome, as well as Kagome's aura, and now she was fighting back. It had sure taken her long enough. She let her bow fall away as she waited for Kagome's return.

The interloper gripped her chest now, and the Shikon Jewel with both hands. "NO," it said dully, "If you take over now, you will remain imbalanced!" Its face contorted and it looked up from her haze of pain to catch Kikyo's eye. Suddenly, as if the pain had never existed, she stood up straight and lifted one hand to point directly at Kikyo's startled face.

A gasp of shock rocked through Kikyo's body just as a blast of heat surged past her form. She fell back into the trees in a crumpled heap. Instinct took over and she rolled to her side, dodging the second spiritual attack. It exploded in the ground where she would have been laying before. A spray of dirt littered over her figure, sticking to her sweat.

She watched as Kagome began to float, her arm still poised in front of her. She was like a marionette being controlled by strings, as her head turned towards her.

'Kagome, fight harder, hurry!' she thought frantically, reaching for her bow and notching an arrow. With a cry she let it loose. A softened THUNK echoed through the clearing as Kagome caught the arrow in both her hands, the flesh there burning instantly into a mass of bubbling blisters. She disregarded that fact as the arrow suddenly disappeared and reappeared in her hands, aimed at Kikyo.

'No!' She thought, disbelief clouding her eyes, and wildly lifting her bow and shooting another arrow just as hers leapt from her hands. They connected and at that point, a blast of holy heat pushed both forces away, negating the other, and as if Kikyo wasn't worried enough, her arrow shattered and Kagome's continued forward. She gave a cry and leapt to the side in time to dodge the flaming shaft. It imbedded itself in the ground where she had just recently stood and continued to flame. She stood up and reached for another arrow. 'HURRY, KAGOME!!!'

…

Kagome watched as the battle continued. She had to do something. But what?! She had a physical form now, but it was still locked in her body. She sank to her knees, the view of the battle fading away from before her. She began to see smoke rising from the blackness. Like a fine white mist it fluttered around her form and eventually began to take shape. She couldn't see the face of the image appearing before her; it was hidden in the blackness.

'Kagome' it said. It was that same VOICE! Only this time… it was different, softer, and more human.

Kagome's eyes clouded in confusion and she made a swipe at them with her bare arm. Her vision cleared again as she saw what she had only seen in her dreams.

"It's you!" she cried.

_--Dark black hair spilled out from underneath a dark brown cloak in thick clumps. The wind whipped the hair up and into the woman's face, the stray hairs from her hood fluttering and catching at the dried blood on her face. They stuck to her lips, which shone with bright red, as if she had knelt to sip the fine nectar that she herself had spilled. Her hair stuck against her lips, and was torn free by the breeze._

_A warrior's bamboo breast-guard hung limply by one ring that was strapped to her shoulder guard. It swung like a broken hinge, its splintered coverage doing nothing for protection now. Black blood as dark as midnight was splattered over her figure; both dry and wet. Her face was hidden under a mass of sweat-covered bangs, but even as she stood, silent and still, a drop of blood slid down her cheek.--_

'Yes, it is I, Midoriko, of the Four Souls…' The voice came from a face that existed in nothingness, but Kagome didn't feel a chill. She actually felt rather warm.

"Why are you here?" she asked it, her voice shrill, and muffled to her ears. She could remember! She remembered her dreams! She could remember what she had seen! What did all this mean?!

'There is no time…' she whispered, her form gliding towards hers eerily. Kagome didn't shudder though, instead she simply fell to her knees and looked up into the figure as it placed its hands on her face and pulled her body up and towards its own. Kagome felt the warmth inside her fill her with entirety as the being slipped into her body. The figure was gone but the voice continued…

'You will understand everything soon, for now, you must awaken with the knowledge and strength I have given you!' And as she spoke, her soft voice began to fade, as well as the ghostly image in front of her. Kagome was at a loss, and for a moment the image of Kikyo as another arrow was fired filled her mind. She shook it, and stood, a strong sense overcoming her as another aura began to fill her senses…

The aura! The aura of the one she loved the most was coming closer, she had to hurry!

"I don't… I can't let Inuyasha see me like this!" she cried, and stretching her arms out and bracing her legs she began to do something she had never thought she would have done before. The knowledge was inside of her now. It was hers, and with it came the knowledge that she had performed this before. Everything was still a mystery, everything was still confusing, but this she knew for certain…

Kagome focused intently on her own being, separating from her physical body her living soul. The strain on her body caused rivers of sweat to pour down her naked flesh and tease at her warm skin. Her body began to glow, to pulse… It throbbed once, and tears of effort and strain slipped from her eyes.

Very carefully, holding her soul as if was a delicate glass vase, with her mind alone; she forced it out from her body to float above her head. She let it balloon out around the confines of the dark space. It suctioned into the walls of her true form and ran all throughout her true body. It glided along the unseen waves and vibrations that hold the things in the real world together until it latched onto what was needed. Her soul pressed on and the knowledge filled Kagome's mind. Even as she took in the knowledge she utilized it, latching onto the location of what she had been searching for…

'I've done this before…' she thought, watching distantly from above her naked form her eyes flicker and sweat pour down her body, caressing the swells and curves. 'I was running that time…'

She had everything she needed. Like a whiplash, she focused hard on her physical form, the one inside herself, and her soul swept back into her body with a vicious lash against her. Her viewpoint suddenly switched, and she was once again looking through the eyes of the naked Kagome, inside of her own body.

She opened her eyes slowly, 'I know what to do now…' she said with almost a sneer. She thrust her arms out from her body again, this time calling for the body that she was inside to heed her command. She saw through dull eyes Kikyo running, bleeding and holding a bow out. She watched her string the arrow. Kagome braced herself as best as she could. With a soundless yell she snapped the control over her body and held it immobile, severing from her body the interloper's control. As the arrow shot out she closed her eyes, waiting for the sharp pain that would give her control again to fill her senses.

…

Kikyo had no other way out, she had to use the Fuuin no Ya. There was no other way for her to subdue the overbearing spirit controlling her. She braced herself and rolled along the ground. From behind her she heard loud yelling. It sounded so familiar to her ears.

'I am alive,' she thought. 'So long as I live the seal can be removed…'

She strung the arrow with numb fingers, her bloodied hand slipping over the thin shaft as she drew it back along the bow's front. She let it loose with a weak cry of pain as her muscles screamed with pain from overuse. It flew towards the body and almost as if time had stopped, the body froze, and a loud voice screamed, without the mouth moving, filling the clearing as the arrow slammed into Kagome's chest.

From behind her Kikyo could hear a vicious scream tearing through after the loud echo. She felt horror drive through her and she crumpled upon herself, watching as a blur of red ran in front of her towards Kagome's battered form. Her vision swayed as she felt the magic of the arrow disappear.

'It seems, Kagome…' she thought as she fell towards the ground, '…it was I who was too weak, again…'

…

'Miko.'

It was that voice again. Why won't it leave me alone?

'Miko, it's time to wake up.'

I'm too tired now, I don't want to.

'He is calling for you.'

Who? Who is calling for me?

'Your lover has come for you. Awaken.'

Inuyasha?

'Yes, awaken and seek out Namenashi, the answers lie in your grasp.'

Kagome felt her eyes slowly flutter open. Her vision was blurred and her head throbbed painfully. She could vaguely see through her blurred eyes a face, yelling at her, screaming her name.

"Kagome!" it cried.

She blinked, recognizing that voice. She mumbled weakly, tears filling her eyes, "Inu… yasha…?" She felt strong arms wrap around her, dragging her vision into a blur of red. She closed her eyes over her tears and felt her arms come up to weakly press against his back. She felt something inside her twist painfully, twist horribly inside of her. It was joy, and sorrow, fear all thrown together. But most of all, it was relief.

"Inuyasha!!!" She sobbed wildly, her fingers fisting in the cloth covering his back. Her tears poured from her eyes and she held him tighter, fear causing her to shake. "I was so SCARED!" She felt his arms around her, crushing her to him. She sobbed for a long time, hot tears disappearing into the strength of his chest. She clutched his Haori with white knuckles and let herself wail.

It was a long time before she fell silent. Inuyasha pulled away, looking into her tear-streaked face. It was so dirty that there were lines of white where her tears had clearly washed away the dirt. She was peaceful…

He stood up, picking her limp body up with him. He looked around just as Sango and Miroku arrived. He turned when he heard Sango gasp, "Kikyo!" He turned and saw her just as she began to retreat into the forest. He felt his gut clench. It was his obligation to follow her. He wanted to know why she had tried to kill Kagome. But most of all, he had to deal with Kagome.

"Inuyasha," she called out softly. He did not turn his head to acknowledge her. He could not understand what had happened here. His nose told him one thing, his heart and memories told him that it wasn't unlikely that history had repeated itself.

Somehow she had found the strength to move and she knew that in her weak state, she had to recover a little bit before she would have the strength to speak with Inuyasha next, no matter how long of a time that took. There were other means for her to get the information she needed to get to Kagome, one being Kaede. "Whenever you are ready…" and disappeared.

'Kagome…' he thought, looking into her sleeping face as he cradled her head in his arms. Without a word (and much to Sango and Miroku's surprise) he turned; did not even look back at Kikyo's retreating figure and instead made his way back in the direction he had come, carrying a limp and exhausted Kagome in his arms.

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**End Of Chapter Author Commentary:**

_Any questions you may have, do feel free to ask in a review. Right now I can't really check my email, so I can't really respond to you that way. On my next post I will respond to all of your questions, alright:D Thanks again for sticking by me! This is the one year anniversary of WWWR, so let's all celebrate!_

_Happy New Year!_

_-Luky_

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**Proofreader's Note:**

_Man, this was hell to beta. Several times I was caught up in what happened and forgot to check for errors. Once I had to go back half a page because of that. Oops :P And if you've read this far, you're dedicated :D Many people just ignore the AN sections of chapters._

_-KVS_


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